Tennis
2009-06-26 - Roger Federer vs Philipp Kohlschreibe
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Roger Federer
Roger Federer, as I mentioned in my last preview of his game, is looking imperious on Centre Court and obviously must feel it is his date with destiny to break the Grand Slam record on his favourite court in the World.
Federer cruised through against Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in straight sets, winning 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 as he continues his march towards the final.
He served 64% first serves in the match, winning 74% of the points behind serve while only giving up 2 break points. Neither of these were converted meaning he has only been broken 1 time in the tournament.
Federer's returning game was impressive with 41% of the points won on the Garcia-Lopez serve. He created 7 chances to break the serve and took an impressive 5 of them.
Philipp Kohlschreiber
Philipp Kohlschreiber has made a habit of upsetting the top seeds in Grand Slams as can be witnessed by him knocking out Andy Roddick at the Australian Open and recently beating Novak Djokovic in straight sets at the French Open. However this is a different kettle of fish to beat Federer on Centre Court.
Kohlschreiber has a decent grass court pedigree as he has reached a final on the surface before as well as semi finals. He is yet to progress beyond the 3rd round at Wimbledon which is a disappointment for him.
The German came through an incredibly tough 2nd round match with Ivo Minar which went to 5 sets. However, he won an impressive 73% of the points behind his serve and was broken 2 times from 5 chances he gave up.
He won 37% of the points behind the Minar serve and took 4 opportunities to break serve from 13 chances he created.
Head to Head
Federer and Kohlschreiber have met on 3 occasions and it is Federer who has won all 3 matches. Federer is yet to lose a set in those 3 matches.
They have had 2 previous meetings on grass when Kohlschreiber failed to break the Federer serve and lost on both occasions 6-3, 6-4.
Prediction
Roger Federer has looked very good in his early round wins and will feel confident that he will get through this match. His serve is working well and he seems to be playing with different tactics, attacking the net more often than I am used to seeing him do.
Kohlschreiber will have to serve well to have any chance of winning this game and he will make life difficult if he does serve well. He has yet to break Federer on a grass court but will feel confident that he can as he has had chances previously.
The handicap is set at 7.5 games in favour of Kohlschreiber which means he would have to be broken at least 4 times if it is to be covered without Federer dropping serve once. I think he has proven his quality in big matches previously so I will take Kohlschreiber with the games here
Federer to go through 6-4, 7-6, 6-3
The Pick :
Roger Federer
