The hosting company have sorted their mistakes and the blog is back. You need to use http://blog.tradesharktennis.com until the www version works its way through DNS

I’ll be posting match picks shortly.

I don’t want to rush the research/analysis and provide poor picks.

I need to get this site issue put to bed (finally)

So I apologise for that but hope you understand.

Any feedback on any error messages received when viewing the sites including www.tradesharktennis.com would be appreciated.

Berlocq is a decent claycourter and won a Challenger event on clay last week.

I am a little surprised that Mayer chose to play this event rather than in Metz on hard courts. He hasn’t played since the US Open where he reached the third round losing to Ferrer in straight sets. He does have a good record on clay though and perhaps he feels he has a chance of picking up some points as he only reached the second round last year.

Berlocq will be full of confidence and this should be a close match. Mayer will need to improve on his recent form and I think he is at a disadvantage in the early games as he needs to get back to “claycourt mode” whereas Berlocq doesn’t. So I expect Berlocq to get the better start and probably take the first set.

Mayer may take a set but I have to go with the in form claycourter.

(1.74)

Mahut v Clement: (hard court)

Clement beat Llodra in straight sets yesterday but I don’t think too much should be read into that result. Lllodra said before the match that is it difficult to find motivation when playing a friend. He didn’t put much effort in at all. Maybe the only thing to take from that match was that after long points Clement was almost on his knees and begging for oxygen.

Mahut leads the head to heads 6-1 although Clement won their most recent match in July this year.

Clement still has the skills that raised him to world number 10 back in 2001 but his body just can’t take it. He had a long week a couple of weeks ago when he reached the final of a Challenger event and I’m sure he hasn’t stopped aching from that.

He will make a match of it but will fade more and more as the match progresses. Half stake on Mahut from the start. I feel its possible Clement makes a decent start and may catch Mahut cold. Mahut  was in good form in his last match though so I don’t want to miss out if Clements legs are like jelly after a few games.

(1.64)

Bear in mind I have yet to upload the videos. If there is one you are desperate to see then email me and I will upload it. Getting the blog back will be my priority.

This evening I tried to view the new site through a proxy and, guess what, it doesnt work. 25 minutes with their online 1st level support and he decides that I need to upload my files via FTP. 25 minutes I waited for that little gem. Having explained that transferring my files was the first thing I had done and whilst showing remarkable patience ( for me) I had to wait for another 10 minutes for the insightful…….”you need to raise a ticket”. No shit Sherlock.

So apologies for the member area not working as I assumed it was ok.

I also seem to be in some twilight zone where no one can see or hear me. I have been asking several of you on skype, chatroom, facebook for someone to check if the members area worked for you. Maybe I don’t exist……hmmm that could be useful. I’ll go hit some small children……

Muller is serving well and held it together to beat Petzschner in 2 tie break sets.  Paire had a straight sets win over an out of form Golubev.

I think Paire will have problems with the Muller serve today. This match will be decided by how well Muller returns the Frenchman’s serve.

The French crowd will try and lift their man but Muller doesn’t look like a player who is easily intimidated and I think he will take this match in 2 sets.

Update: Muller won 7-6, 6-4.

Dolgopolov v Baghdatis: (hard court)

This one should be interesting! Neither player has been particularly reliable of late although Dolgopolov did reach the fourth round of the US Open losing to Djokovic in straight sets.

Baghdatis had a tight first set in his first round match here against Bachinger but won the second set easily.

They start at evens on Betfair. Baggy leads the head to heads 2-1 with all 3 games being played on hard courts. They have never played a 3 set match.

Baghdatis seemed please and upbeat after his first round win. He needs his confidence to be high to play his best tennis.

Dolgopolov doesn’t really have a plan B and i think he will need a few games to get used to the feel of the court. Baggy has played a match already and that could give him the slight edge he needs in the early part of the match.

I am going for a Baghdatis win and hope I have read his attitude correctly!

Update: Almost! Baggy won the first set but Dolgopolov took the next 2 sets to win 6-7, 7-5, 6-3.

The members area and sales area shouldn’t be affected at all ( famous last words!) but the blog and forum isn’t a small task to transfer. Hopefully I can get the core of the blog up pretty quickly and then the details can be sorted along the way.

Daily match picks will appear on here while the main blog is down.

So I won’t be renewing with them and am looking for a replacement hosting company.

Anyway I will use this blog until the main one is back.

Let me know if anyone else is having issues. It might just be something they’re doing at the server end that will be done in a few minutes.