Tennis
2010-01-21 - Marcos Baghdatis vs David Ferrer
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Preview
Marcos Baghdatis receives a lot of support at this Grand Slam with a huge Cypriot community out here in Melbourne and he will be hoping for a decent run so he can move back up the rankings of the tennis world. He moved up to World Number 31 after his start to the season but comes into this tournament as a dangerous unranked player.
Baghdatis suffered from injury problems last season and this has hampered him for much of his career meaning he could never really achieve the heights that his Runner Up spot here in 2006 suggested. However, he is seemed to be on the road to recovery in the rankings at the back end of last season and highlighted that by winning the tournament in Sydney in preparation for this event.
The Cypriot continues his solid performances on the hard courts, where he has had the most success in his career. He ended last season with 13-9 record at the main tour level while also posting a 17-2 record in Qualifying matches and Challenger events.
He came through his first round match here in straight sets and won an easy 76% of points behind the serve.
David Ferrer is the number 17 seed here but will be disappointed to have to face the quality of Baghdatis in the 2nd round of this event. He will be hoping to have the boost to his career that Fernando Verdasco did after helping Spain win the Davis Cup a few weeks ago.
Ferrer took part in 2 tournaments in the build up to this event but he lost both matches, a particularly disappointing defeat to Arnaud Clement in Auckland has to be mentioned. The Spaniard actually dropped a ranking place to World Number 18 in the last week.
He has continued to be an effective factor on tour, posting another winning record last season. The hard courts remain an important part of the Ferrer year and he was 20-11 last season. Ferrer was a 3rd round loser here last year.
The Spanish player had perhaps the easiest route through to the 2nd round in the Mens competition this season when his opponent retired with Ferrer leading 6-0, 6-0, 2-0. It is hard to gauge how effective Ferrer was in that match with the ease of victory and with Federico Gil struggling with an injury.
Head to Head
These two players have met on 2 previous occasions and it is David Ferrer who lead 2-0. Both matches have come on hard courts, with the last match taking place in South Africa last season.
On that occasion, it was David Ferrer who came through in straight sets.
Prediction
Marcos Baghdatis really put together some good tennis in winning the tournament in Sydney last week and it should fill him with confidence here. He will need to serve effectively to keep Ferrer and will need to cut back on his unforced errors.
David Ferrer is still the grinder of the tour but mixes it in with plenty of big shots off the ground. He got through comfortably in the 1st round but his tournament starts here with potential meetings with Lleyton Hewitt and Roger Federer perhaps in the near future. He has the counter-attacking game that can frustrate the Cypriot here.
This has the makings of a solid tennis match. I have been fairly surprised that Ferrer is the underdog in this match as it seems his game matches up very well with Baghdatis'. I am going to play the dog to have his day here.
David Ferrer 7-5, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4
The Pick :
David Ferrer 7-5, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4
