Tennis
2009-06-29 - Andy Roddick vs Tomas Berdych
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Tennis: England, Wimbledon Men
Monday 29th June 2009 - Start 16:00
Andy Roddick
Andy Roddick will be happy to have got through the first week of Wimbledon but now will need to raise his game a couple of levels if he is to go on and add a 2nd Grand Slam to his CV. In my opinion, he needs to raise his game somewhat if he is to even make the Final here at Wimbledon.
Roddick has dropped a set in each match so far in the tournament, some through inspired play by his opponents, others due to a lack of concentration.
The American served 72% first serves which meant he ended winning 74% of the points behind the serve. The first serve % is more impressive when considering the speeds that A-Rod serves at. He still faced 5 break points on his serve and was broken on 2 occasions.
Roddick seems to be returning a little too tentatively at the moment, especially when it comes to key times in a match and this is something I look to see if he can improve on. He won 34% of the points off his opponent's serve and broke serve 2 times from the 9 chances he had.
Tomas Berdych
Tomas Berdych has been very very comfortable so far at Wimbledon, winning all 3 matches without losing a set. He has only given up 28 games in those matches and has looked very much at home on the grass courts.
Berdych served 62% first serves in his last match with Nikolay Davydenko and won 75% of the points off his own serve. However he did present Davydenko with 5 break point chances, although only 1 was taken.
The Czech star won 48% of the points off Davydenko's serve, which eventually provided him with 11 break point chances of which 6 were taken.
Tomas Berdych has some real pedigree on a grass court, reaching 2 Finals on the surface previously, winning 1 of them too. He has also reached this stage of Wimbledon for a 3rd time and his previous best performance here was a Quarter Final appearance where he lost to Rafael Nadal.
Head to Head
This is the 5th meeting between the 2 big servers and the score is currently tied 2-2.
Tomas Berdych won their last meeting in 3 tight sets in Tokyo although Roddick won their only previous meeting in a Grand Slam.
Prediction
Andy Roddick needs to up his game as we enter week 2 of Wimbledon. He has served well for the most part, a couple of silly games helping opponents to break the serve. The big key in my opinion for Roddick is to attack more on the big points, especially when he is returning as 1 break of serve can effectively give him a set.
Tomas Berdych has come through 3 rounds with some ease, but I think he is being slightly overrated here because of his win over the higher seeded Davydenko in the last round, a player that has always struggled on the grass courts. Berdych will need to serve well and hope he is not makeing too many unforced errors off of the forehand.
I think we are in line for a couple of tight sets to begin with before Roddick pulls away. I dont feel this match will end in straight sets for Roddick but perhaps a 4 set win.
I think Roddick goes through 6-7, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6
The Pick :
Andy Roddick
BEST BETTING TIP :
Andy Roddick -2.5 games 1.91 at Paddy Power
