The blog has moved!
September 12, 2009
The blog has been moved to my own webspace
The new address is www.blog.tradesharktennis.com
I have more control over content if I host it myself. Everything has been moved over to the new place so you can view old posts there 
The new blog now has its own Trading Forum and Chatroom. All welcome
For tennis strategies, trading videos and advice check out www.tradesharktennis.com
Blog suspended
September 11, 2009
WordPress suspended the blog because of the links. I hadnt read the t’s and c’s properly.
I will be moving the blog to my own servers over the weekend.
As for todays matches, both womens games are best suited to the 15-40. Williams is expected to win but I’m not so sure. Clijsters has come back very strong from retirement.
Serena will want a little revenge for her sister. This could be a great battle.
When Rafa’s match gets going again I would expect him to take charge and finish the job. Its been a very tigt match so far with tie breaks in both sets.
Back Nadal on his serves
I’ll get the blog moved over in the next day or so.
Paul
US Open – Week2 – Thurs
September 10, 2009
20:00 – Del Potro v Cilic
Rankings are 6 and 17. Head to head is 1-0 to Del Potro. That was in the OZ Open in January And went to 4 sets.
Del Potro is a strong favourite at 1.25 but Cilic showed against Murray that he is hitting the ball exceptionally well and this could be a good battle.
Our option are to either lay DP from the start and if Cilic can keep the 1st set close or even win it we can hedge for a profit. Or we can back DP on serve and wait for a 15-40 in his favour.
You could back DP from the start as i expect him to win the match but 1.25 is a poor value bet.
I think Cilic could nick a set here and has a chance of victory if Del Potro is even a little off his top form.
Update: Cilic took the first set so anyone laying DP from the start could take their profit. After that he broke serve early in the second set ( I think it was the first game ) and it looked like it was going to be his day. Then Del Potro did what Murray failed to do and took charge. he broke back to take the second set and it was one way traffic after that.
DP won 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-1
Midnight – Gonzalez v Nadal
Rankings are 11 and 3. Head to heads are 6-3 to Nadal who has won their last 5 meetings without losing a set.
Gonzalez’ only hope today is that Nadal is struggling with fitness.. If he isnt then it will definately be the Spaniard who moves on to the semis.
Nadal is 1.34 on betfair. Both men have good stats on serve but Nadal is better when it comes to receiving. Back Nadal on serve and wait for 15-40’s in his favour.
Update: Rain stopped play. Nadal had won the first set tie break and they were part way through the second set tie break with Nadal slightly ahead. Resumes today…
US Open – Week2 – Wed
September 9, 2009
17:30 – Wickmayer v Bondarenko
Rankings are 50 and 52 and head to heads are 2-0 to Bondarenko.
Bondarenko has only lost 1 set so far which was the first set in the first round against Ivanovic. Since then she has been very very solid. Wickmayer has had a tough draw with a couple of 3 setters. In both 3 set matches she lost the first set.
I expect Bondarenko to win this. Wickmayer can start slowly against stronger opposition. if you’re brave, back Bondarenko at the start and green up when she wins the first set. Make sure you have your strategy for if she goes behind. If you don’t have one, checkout the members area on www.tradesharktennis.com
Alternatively, use the 15-40 or scalping methods.
Update: A close first set which went to Wickmayer 7-5. Bondarenko took a lead in the second but threw it away. Wickmayer came back to win 6-4
19:30 – Djokovic v Verdasco
Rankings are 4 and 10. Head to heads are 3-2 to Djokovic.
Djokovic is 1.42 on BF but I think this could be a good match. Verdasco seems to be in the form of his life and he dealt very effectively with Isner in the last round.
I expect a tight match and wouldn’t be surprised of it goes to 4 or 5 sets. Djokovic should come out on top but I can see his price trading higher than 1.42.
Both men are strong servers and win 85% of their service games although Djokovic only hits 63% of first serves in ( Verdasco gets 72% in ). This could give Verdasco an opportunity to punish second serves. If he can be aggressive when facing those second serves he could get on top.
Back either or both men on serve and watch for 15-40 opportunities.
Update: Djokovic won in 4 sets, 7-6, 1-6, 7-5, 6-2
Cilic – Bang, and the Brit is gone……..
September 9, 2009
So Andy Murray comes up short in a major….again. The world number 2 ( and that could change shortly ) lost in straight sets to the big Croat. In straight sets for God’s sake!
I said before the tournament that he would have to be aggressive to be in with a chance. He had started well enough but what happened last night? The other top players don’t need any other motivation to fight and to be aggressive than the fact that it is a Grand Slam event. These are the ones that you’re remembered for. Yet Murray seemed like it just didn’t matter enough.
Yes his opponent has a big serve and hits the ball like a missile but when the other top players beat him they do it by using that power against him. All they have to do is direct the ball as he has provided all the speed for them. Once Cilic had his nose in front and sensed that Murray wasn’t competing the same as he usually does his confidence will have been going up and up. Players like Cilic thrive on that and his serve and ground strokes will have taken on even more intensity.
Murray didn’t seem injured. So what’s the problem? He’ll never reach his goal of being world number 1 unless he can get his head sorted for situations like last night. If Nadal stays around to the end of this week he may be close to taking the number 2 position back. Murray will lose a boat load of points because he has finished way below his second place in last year’s US Open.
He has the shots, the touch, the fitness and (usually) the fighting spirit. His problems seem to be in his head. He’s 22 so still has time but not much. Tennis is a young man’s game ( as my back keeps telling me! ). As he gets older he will have to rely on his mind to play smarter, as Federer does and how Nadal already does at the same young age of 22.
Only time will tell if he really has what it takes to be one of the games greats …..
