Ball Kids Hate Azarenka But Like Stosur...

Written By Chris Oddo - His blog is http://thefanchild.blogspot.com.

STANFORD, California—Those little blue and red clad blurs that have been zooming around the Bank of the West Classic grounds all week know a good time when they see it. Turns out they also know good tennis.

18 year old Raymond Lee, a no-nonsense upwardly mobile high school student believes that his eyes don’t lie. “Stosur will win, because I saw her play,” he told me.

11 year-old Evan Tobin concurred. I caught him running the stairs outside Stadium court, and he was nice enough to share a few moments of his precious time with me. “I think Sam Stosur is gonna win, because when I was ballboying for her in the match, she was just amazing.”

11 year-old Drew Davison was also wowed by the phenom known to many simply as ‘Sam.’ “I want Sam Stosur to win because in my opinion she’s the best player in the tournament and I guess she deserves to.” I’m not sure what he meant by “I guess” but, being so lucky to have Drew grant me this exclusive interview, I declined to press him on the matter. “I ballkidded for her earlier today,” he said. “And her serve was pretty amazing.”

Hmmm. Considering the draw still features such tennis royalty as Maria Sharapova and Elena Dementieva, I must say I was surprised at all the support the kids were giving Stosur. Was she taking them out back and feeding them candies? Was it something that she said or the way she looked at them? Or, had she intimidated them so much with her ripped physique that they didn’t dare say anything bad about her for fear there would be repercussions?

It was hard to say, so I persisted further.

Then things started to get interesting. “I’m not giving my name,” said a 17-year-old who apparently had a story to tell. She had just come off a long shift, and while she was very happy with her job, she did have one complaint.

“Azarenka is very particular,” she said.

“How so,” I asked.

“She wants all the balls on one side, and if you don’t she yells at you.”

“Is she the only one,” I asked.

“Sharapova is picky too, but she is nice about it.”

Being that this wasn’t a WTA slander campaign, I wanted to know who the kids thought was the nicest. Turns out that Melanie Oudin is a real sweetheart.

“Oudin was really nice, and the qualifiers were really nice too,” said the hesitant ball kid. “And Bartoli was nice least year,” another chimed in.

“Sharapova was picky about which end she took it from, but she was nice.”

“Sharapova’s nice,” someone else chimed in. They all seemed to agree. Maria’s finicky, but nice. Azarenka though, is a different story.

Now they were really starting to open up. “I like Stosur because she doesn’t grunt,” said one.

“I like her t-shirt,” added another.

I had uncovered a lot in my hours of running with the ball kids, but there was still one thing that I needed to know.

“So all in all this was a good experience and you guys would be happy to do it next year?”

“Definitely.”

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One bigger losing bet yesterday but still finished the day with a profit so very happy.

The balance is now standing at £174.66 so still a little bit to go before being doubled and there is still a week to hope that it gets done by. Like I said in a previous post I think 6 weeks could be a better target but really it's just good to see the bank still growing, even with the bigger losses coming in.

Early signs show around 7 or 8 selections today which is good for the weekend, picks are usually minimal over the last few days of tournaments.

Is There More Value The Further In to A Sequence I Go?

I had a little discussion on the forum last night with regards to the system. It was mentioned that chasing will ALWAYS end in the bank gone, they didnt seem to understand that I am breaking losses down and hope to avoid this as everyone knows just chasing and chasing WILL end in tears.

Larsson said that as long as I am backing value then chasing could work which got me thinking about how much value there is in the bets I am making.

The further in to the sequences I head the less chance there is of it losing again (that what ten years of results says anyway) so when I get to 4th bet, if I am backing a favourite @ 1.85 I have a very strong feeling that this will win for me as in the past ten years 4 losses in a row don't happen too often.

Is 1.85 therefore massive value seeing as in the past matches with this criteria have gone my way.

If it's 1.35 is it still value? Can I look at value from the point of view of the criteria I use or does it have to be value considering the opponent?

Personally I think high priced favourites on the 4th bet ARE decent value for sure as they go my way more than they don't from what past results tell me.

Also, because at this point in the sequence the stakes have obviously risen, with the larger stake am I therefore enhancing the return of that value and cancelling out some bad value from earlier losing bets?

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A massive profit of 77p yesterday although a few matches were postponed until today due to rain so they have been carried over.

Hopefully a dry day will see those matches get played and hopefully result in a profit for the bank again.

Tomic Loses Another Coach...

BERNARD Tomic has split with his second conditioning expert in 12 months, American Yutaka Nakamura having followed Sydney-based Rudolf Sopko out through Team Tomic's revolving door.

Nakamura was hired by Tennis Australia to work full-time with Tomic in December, five months after a frustrated Sopko quit and then questioned the gifted young Queenslander's commitment to developing the physical side of his game.

Even Tomic acknowledges that his movement is the area most in need of improvement if he is to fulfil his obvious potential at senior level and, for a time at least, Nakamura was thought to be an ideal fit. He had spent six years as director of player performance at Nick Bollettieri's IMG Academy in Florida, working with the likes of Maria Sharapova and Tommy Haas, and bonding with Tomic during the Australian's six-month stint at the academy last year - while also appearing to win the early approval of the teenager's father and principal coach, John.


Indeed, by January, Tomic junior was already describing the 37-year-old Nakamura as his closest friend on the tour - even as others were privately wondering how long the new employee would last. Not very, appears to be the answer.

"Bernard is working with his dad on the Gold Coast,'' said Todd Woodbridge, Tennis Australia's head of men's tennis, while confirming that Nakamura was now being employed to work with Davis Cup squad members Chris Guccione, Carsten Ball and Matt Ebden in the US.

Tomic, 17, a former No. 1 junior whose senior ranking of 223rd is 14 places below its February peak, last month won his way through Wimbledon qualifying for the first time.

Nakamura, like Sopko, was intent on building his speed, strength and flexibility to help Tomic compete with the increasing athleticism of the men's game, a process he said would take two or three years to achieve.

Murray Aims High With New Coach and More Profit For The System Yesterday...

Andy Murray’s burning desire to become the game’s top player and to win his first Grand Slam singles title prompted him to sack his coach Miles Maclagan, the British world number four said on Wednesday.

Murray, who is competing in this week’s LA Open, felt he and Maclagan had drifted apart in the way they viewed his development and that it was imperative for him to be comfortable with his coaching structure.

“It was obviously a hard decision and one that wasn’t the nicest thing to have to take,” Murray, 23, said on a conference call a day after parting company with Maclagan.

“But it wasn’t that tough to make up my mind because we were quite far apart in what we thought. It wasn’t necessarily something that Miles wasn’t bringing (as a coach).”

Murray added that he, Maclagan and his part-time adviser, former Spanish professional Alex Corretja, had met in Miami earlier this month to discuss the best way forward.

“Between the three of us, there were different ways of seeing things, what I felt was beneficial to me and what Miles and Alex felt was beneficial to me,” he said.

“I need to be comfortable in the setup that I have ... have a hundred per cent confidence that everyone that’s working with me believes it’s the right thing to do.”

Australian Darren Cahill is widely believed to be Maclagan’s likely successor but Murray has said he will review the situation only after the August 30-September 12 US Open.

Meanwhile his quest to become the game’s best player continues.

“I want to become better, try and get to number one in the world, try and win Grand Slams,” the British number one said. “I don’t think I need to make huge changes in my game. I just need to become a better player all around.

“I’ve had good results against (Roger) Federer. I’ve beaten (Rafa) Nadal a couple of times in Slams. I’ve been to the latter stages of quite a few Slams.”

Murray, who has previously been coached by Briton Mark Petchey and American Brad Gilbert, has yet to win a Grand Slam title despite several close calls in recent years.

In the 2008 US Open final he was taken apart by Federer and he fell to the Swiss maestro again in this year’s Australian Open title match.

Earlier this month, Murray was beaten 6-4 7-6 6-4 by Spanish world number one Nadal in the last four at Wimbledon.

“It’s easy to start over-thinking things and over-analysing things,” said Murray, who reached a career-high second in the rankings in August last year. “I don’t think there’s a problem with my game.

“I just need to get better, and that’s something that maybe hasn’t happened the last four or five months. Hopefully by getting a new coach and a new coaching team in place, that will help me do that, and hopefully achieve my goals.”

Although yet to win an ATP title this year, Murray was in high spirits for his first tournament back since Wimbledon.

“Now I feel good again,” said the Scot, the top seed this week who will face American qualifier Tim Smyczek in the second round on Thursday.

“I feel confident after the way Wimbledon went. I kind of saw what the problems were, what I needed to do to get back to playing top-three, top-four tennis again. I addressed it.”

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More profit yesterday for the system and it seems to be on a good run now, perhaps a bit too good to be true so I am bracing myself for a losing run.

I'm not getting to watch hardly any tennis at the moment as I am at work through the night so missing all of the US matches.

Upon a quick look at today's matches it looks like there will be around 15 selections today so a good chance to keep the bank growing again towards it doubled target of £200. The balance is currently at £168.67 with yesterdays green day.

Murray Sacks His Coach and A Profitable Day For The System...

Miles Maclagan has become the latest coach to discover that there is little job security in working with Andy Murray after the two of them parted company.

The world No 4 is looking for the fifth full-time coach of his professional career and is likely to appoint a new one when the US Open concludes early in September.

Former British journeyman player Maclagan is said to have indicated that he was no longer happy working as part of a two-man coaching operation. He has been sharing the work of overseeing Murray's training with part-time consultant Alex Corretja.

Although the British No 1 tried to persuade Maclagan to stay on in the present arrangement, the coach wanted to be in sole charge, as had been the case throughout the grass-court season.

When the 23-year-old Scot made it clear he still wanted that wider range of input, the men decided to part ways. The split may explain why Murray decided to cut short his training camp in Florida, which Maclagan had attended, for a last-minute entry into the Los Angeles Open, where he plays his opening match on Wednesday.

In a statement, Murray said: 'I have had a great relationship with Miles over the past two-and-a-half years and I want to thank him for his positive contribution to my career. We have had a lot of success and fun working together.'

Maclagan was also full of warm words, saying: 'It's been a privilege to work with Andy as his coach and I'm happy to have played my part in his career. I also want to thank the team for all their hard work over the years. I will miss them and Andy on a day-to-day basis. Andy is a great talent.'

While the split looks amicable, Maclagan will be as disappointed as anyone that he was unable to coax his client to a major title. He arrived as a lower profile and less experienced replacement for Brad Gilbert in December 2007, who had succeeded Pato Alvarez and Mark Petchey.

He helped guide Murray to two Grand Slam finals and No 2 in the world, but the player has always called the shots, with his mother Judy an influential figure.

The widely respected Corretja dips in for 12 weeks per year, but without much success when it comes to his specialist area of clay-court tennis - where Murray's results remain his least impressive.

Murray intends to work with Corretja until after Flushing Meadows, when he will make a longer term decision. There is no urgency to replace Maclagan, and few obvious candidates, as the domination of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal means most lack the experience of coaching a player to a Grand Slam title.

One name sure to be mentioned is Las Vegas-based Australian Darren Cahill, a former mentor of Andre Agassi, who is associated with Murray's sponsors adidas.

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A massive 30 selections for the system yesterday but it produced a cracking profit of £15.99 so around a 10% increase for the day which I am very happy with.

The rough target I was hoping to double the bank (£100 start) by was around 7th August give or take a day or two, I'm not sure exactly what date I restarted. The Balance is now at £164.32 with ten days left to hopefully get another £36 profit.

After that I will see how long it will take to double again but will set the hopeful target at around 6 weeks as the slight over staking to compensate for the minimum bet will not be needed soon so it should take slightly longer to double.

A Losing Day and Elena To Return...

From supersport.com, Reuters.

Elena Dementieva, who missed Wimbledon with an injury, returns to action as one of the top seeds at a tournament in Stanford where she will look to tune up her game ahead of the US Open.

Dementieva, the second seed at this week's tournament, has a first-round bye and will face the winner of the match between fellow Russian Dinara Safina and Japan's Kimiko Date Krumm.

The 28-year-old Dementieva suffered a calf injury at the French Open that forced her to pull out of a semifinal match against eventual champion Francesca Schiavone and take four weeks off to recover.

Dementieva, who has yet to win a grand slam title, said she understands injuries are part of the game but could not follow a Wimbledon that she was not competing in.

"I didn't watch because I was too disappointed I wasn't there," she told reporters. "I didn't want to know who won."

Despite playing a grinding schedule for the past 11 years, the 28-year-old Dementieva had not missed a grand slam she had qualified for until this year.

Considered by some the best women's player not to have won a grand slam, the 2008 Olympic gold medalist said that despite her age she remains just as competitive as when she advanced to her first grand slam semifinal as a teenager in 2000.

"It's never easy to lose," said Dementieva. "I love to play and win and it's always disappointing to lose. Maybe I'm taking a little easier now, but it doesn't mean that I don't care."

Dementieva is hoping to regain her form in time for the US Open, which starts August 30. She reached the US Open final in 2004 but lost to compatriot Svetlana Kuznetsova.

While the calf injury disrupted Dementieva's rhythm, she believes that it also had a positive side.

"It was a good time to get a break and get ready for hard court season," she said. "In the end, I really needed some time off to get hungry for the competition."


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A losing day for the system but no worries as in the early days of using this there were often losing days early in the week and it would generally catch up and head into profit by the end of the week...most weeks.

It was only a small loss, a shock result was Ivanovic dispatching Kleybanova in straight sets and people will probably be asking if squeaky will start to climb now but she seems to have real problems maintaining any little bit of form she seems to find.

Sania beaten by British teenager...

Wrexam, Wales, July 26: India's Sania Mirza was defeated 6-2, 6-4 by Britain's US Open junior champion Heather Watson in the final of the 25,000-dollar ITF tournament here on Sunday.

The 18-year-old Watson said: "Against Sania I just told myself I had nothing to lose because she's been ranked 27 in the world before and she is a really good player. I just did a lot of running and got as many balls in court as I could."

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A profit of over £27 from last weeks tournaments so it's slowly getting there with the total balance now at £152.75. The two sequences that I broke down after the 3 losses both won their next bets so I could have gone on with the full chase to recover the lot and got it back but it's better to safer just now in case a 4 loss sequence comes about.

More tournaments this week so plenty of matches, let's hope the bank keeps growing and I should have some extra funds to give the bank a slight top up in a few weeks so get it the point where breaking down after 4 should be ok.

Time To Break Sequences Down...

A loss yesterday overall but the two matches I did lose on were third bets in sequences. Now from the years of research I have done of results, three losses happen quite often, it's four losses of this set sequence that is quite rare.

Now due to my slight overstaking due to the minimum bet I will have to break these two sequences down now and recover over a series of bets. I could risk a bit more to recover right away but if one of the rare 4 loss sequences happens now then it will be a bigger chunk of the bank gone than is ideal and I have to look long term.

Djokovic Withdraws From Los Angeles...

From Yahoo News...

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Novak Djokovic of Serbia has withdrawn from next week's ATP Tour event in Los Angeles.

Tournament director Bob Kramer said Friday that Djokovic, the world's second-ranked player, withdrew from the Farmers Classic because of undisclosed personal reasons. Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic, the 2007 winner, withdrew because of a knee injury.

Joining the field is fourth-ranked Andy Murray, who received a wild card and will be seeded No. 1 when play begins Monday at the Los Angeles Tennis Center on the UCLA campus.

Defending champion Sam Querrey is seeded No. 2 and Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus is No. 3.

Bob and Mike Bryan will be seeking to break the record of 61 career doubles titles in their hometown tournament.

Almost Half Way Now...

I did have the urge to lump on someone short priced after the last two days losses but then told myself "think long term, it will probably lose anyway, think long term".

Yesterday it made back those losses and more so I'm glad I kept my discipline in the end. Two of yesterdays bets were third bets in their sequences but they both won.

Usually I would only break down a loss after 4 losing bets but due to the minimum bet being £2 I am currently overstaking slightly until the bank gets bigger.

Like the headline says though the bank is almost halfway to being doubled as it now sits at £146.17 with a little over two weeks left before the target to have it doubled by so that's good.

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Del Potro Hoping For Flushing Meadows Return

NEW YORK : Juan Martin del Potro, who underwent surgery earlier this year on his wrist, hopes to be healthy enough to defend his title at the US Open in August.

The 21-year-old Argentinian was originally expected to miss the major championship because of surgery on his right hand.

His recovery appears to be ahead of schedule so Del Potro was placed on the provisional Open entry list released Thursday by the United States Tennis Association.

So far the only event he has competed in this year is the Australian Open. But tournament spokesman Tim Curry said world number seven Del Potro is practising and hitting balls again.

Del Potro won his first Grand Slam title by rallying to beat five-time US Open champ Roger Federer in five sets in the 2009 final at Flushing Meadows.

The US Open begins August 30.

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Serena In Race Against Time For US Open...

From 7 days...

Serena Williams may be facing a race against time to be fit for next month’s US Open, but the American ace has insisted she’s on top of her recovery from a recent foot injury.

The world No.1 needed surgery after slashing her right foot on broken glass at a restaurant, only hours after winning her fourth Wimbledon title in straight sets against Vera Zvonareva, and will now miss tour events in Istanbul, Cincinnati and Montreal. And even if the 13-time Grand Slam champion’s foot heals in time, a lack of match practice could see her plans for a fourth US Open title hit the net by the time the final Slam of the year starts in New York on August 30.

But the 28-year-old was bullish on her Twitter page, tweeting: “Hey guys I’m doing better. Thanks for all the love. I can’t wait to get out of bed and back on the courts and do what I do best.”

Exactly what happened at the restaurant remains a mystery, but Williams will be desperate to make an appearance at Flushing Meadows and move on from the controversy that surrounded her exit 12 months ago.

Williams unleashed a volley of abuse at a line judge for calling a foot fault that left her facing match point against Kim Clijsters
in last year’s semis. Williams threatened to “take this ball and shove it down your throat”, was handed a points penalty and the match went to the Belgian.

The big-hitting American was fined a record $175,000, but eventual champion Clijsters is keen to move on from the incident and see Williams back at the Queens-based arena.

“You want the best players to be out there, especially at the US Open,” Clijsters said. “It would be sad not to have Serena there.”

But with WTA tour spokesman Andrew Walker claiming earlier this week that Williams’ chances of making the US Open remain slim, all the positive talk could end up being dealt a forehand smash. Her faulty foot isn’t Williams’ first injury scare of the year. The Australian Open champion tweaked her knee at Melbourne Park earlier in the year and was forced to pull out of the Miami Masters before going on to lose in the French Open quarters to Samantha Stosur.

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Another losing day with the system. A few of the chase sequences moved on to their next bets and a few of them lost again. Hopefully if any matches today match the criteria to continue chasing then they will end up as winning bets, otherwise I expect I will have to break it down to recover over further bets.




I've also had two bad days on the tipping comp now too, Hanescu turning me over yesterday so today I'm going with Starace. I think he will have to much for Riba so fingers crossed I can't get three in a row wrong after Robredo lost before that.

Just Like I Predicted...

The losing day came just like I thought it would, it was due. Let's hope I can pull it back today with the qualifying matches that come up and there should be plenty.

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Delray Beach Now Called 'Tennis Beach'

DELRAY BEACH, Fla. -- The city of Delray Beach is getting a new name.

Delray Beach commissioners made a proclamation at Tuesday evening's commission meeting to officially change the name of the city to "Tennis Beach" for the next week.

City leaders said the change is to honor Delray Beach for being nominated as one of the top tennis towns in America by the United States Tennis Association.

Delray Beach was settled in 1895.

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Hewitt back in comfort zone as US Open run-up begins...

From the Times of India: Lleyton Hewitt is back into the comfort zone as he plays this week as third seed at the Atlanta Tennis Championships, making his start on hardcourt a full six weeks before the US Open kickoff next month.

The 29-year-old, who stands behind Andy Roddick and American John Isner in the seedings, is well at home on the North American hardcourts. The winner of ten career titles on the continent - including the US Open in 2001 - is also a veteran of Atlanta.

The event was returned to the ATP calendar this season after a nine-year absence in the wake of a financial deal with the bankrupt Indianapolis event.

Hewitt's previous visit to the southern American city came in 1999 when it was played on green clay.

"I'm quite comfortable on the hard courts," said the former number one. "I don't think it's too early to start. I'll take next week and one more off before the Open (which begins August 30).

The Australian, now based with his family just a flight away in the Bahamas, is keen to put the confidence he gained from a title victory on grass last month in Halle, Germany, over Roger Federer to work during the gruelling cement summer season.

"Winning Halle gave me a lot of confidence, especially after beating Roger on grass in a final," said the Aussie. "The top players like him all tend to play their best at the business end of a tournament."

Number 30 Hewitt's last match was the Wimbledon fourth round, where he lost to Novak Djokovic.

"It's been great being able to have some quality family time since finishing at Wimbledon," he told his website. "I've enjoyed spending all my time with (pregnant wife) Bec, Mia and Cruz away from the tennis courts.

"But it's once again business as usual, having arrived in Atlanta I play my first round against the winner of Lukas Lacko and a qualifier.

"I've been training in the heat for the last week and preparing for the American swing towards the US Open."

Hewitt is especially impressed with his progress after undergoing a second hip operation in late January after losing in the Australian Open. "I never expected to get back to from this fast." said the player who has won a title every year except one (2008) since 1998.

Hewitt is planning a full Grand Slam run-up, with his August schedule comprising Washington, Toronto, Cincinnati and then a week off prior to the Open.

"The US summer is always a gruelling time as it can get extremely hot and you have to back up for a lot of matches. My game suits the US hardcourts well.

"I'm hoping for a good run, I've got a lot of matches under my belt right now."

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Some more profit yesterday from 24 bets that came up as qualifying picks. In previous tournaments the early days had usually shown a loss so I am very happy to come out on top after that many selections.

The balance is now £131.31 so almost a third of the way to being doubled. I know that Murray/Nadal at Wimbledon was a pick so it was definitely around that time that I restarted this.

I'll go for the 7th of the month to check against the target, perhaps doubling every 6 weeks looks more realistic but that is still class, doubling the bank in a year is still a very good outcome.



Plenty more picks today, I must be approaching a losing day soon as it's now been 4 or 5 days of continuous profit. We will see.

I may try and watch a bit today after missing it yesterday, it depends what matches are available on stream.

Little Growth On Finals Day...

It was four favourites today so no need to blur them out. Pennetta was a bit of a shock, I didn't think she would lose in 2 although she does seem to be a bit of a liability more and more often now.

It's been a few days of profit everyday now so fingers crossed it keeps growing. Balance is now at £125.18 so a quarter of the way to doubling the bank which would be good if it happens by about a week or so into August (around a month).

Lot's of matches to come over the coming days so let's hope it doesn't bust the bank!

Serena To Miss 3 Tournaments...

American world number one Serena Williams will miss three tournaments in the build-up to the U.S. Open due to surgery on her right foot, the WTA Tour said on Saturday.

The 28-year-old Australian Open and Wimbledon champion will miss events in Istanbul, Cincinnati and Montreal after cutting her foot on broken glass at a restaurant last week.

"I'm so upset I won't be able to play in the upcoming events because of this foot surgery," Williams told the WTA website (www.wtatour.com). "Thank you for all of your support. I can't wait to get back on the courts."

The U.S. Open begins at Flushing Meadows on August 30.

In my opinion I doubt it will make that much difference, many people though when Clijsters and Henin returned that they would return to the top of the game but they have not. It's still Serenas if she wants it and in my opinion, missing a few weeks wont matter, as long as she can still make the US Open.

More profit for me today with the "Holy Grail" system if I can call it that, we will see long term if that is an appropriate name for it, I hope it is.



A few selections tomorrow with the few finals happening, I didn't get to watch much today but I believe that I didn't miss much...

Roddick Accepts Wildcard...

Three weeks after crashing out in the Wimbledon fourth round, Andy Roddick will aim for a return to form after accepting a wildcard into next week's Atlanta Tennis Championships.

The three-time Wimbledon finalist was humbled by Taiwan's Lu Yen-Hsun and has not been near a court since the June 28 upset loss.

But the world number nine American looks to boost the home box office at the new Atlanta event which begins Monday.

Roddick joins an inaugural field at the new re-invention of an event formerly held a decade ago. Also entered in the first hardcourt outing in the US Open run-up are newly notorious John Isner, winner at Wimbledon of the longest match ever played, former number one Lleyton Hewitt, and Americans James Blake and Robby Ginepri.

Ginepri, a local, won the Indianapolis title last summer before that event was sold to Atlanta due to a lack of sponsorship and plans to tear down the local university tennis centre to make way for an office block.

Roddick will take the top seeding in Atlanta. The 27-year-old played back in the day, winning the title in 2001 while ranked 89th, the first American teenager to win an ATP title at the time since Michael Chang in 1992.

Roddick comes into Atlanta with a 32-7 match record this season, with a trophy from January in Brisbane. He also stands atop the ATP statistics table with a best 26-4 hard court record.

Also playing is American Mardy Fish, title winner on grass last weekend in Newport. A wildcard was also given to Briton James Ward.

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Another winning day for me yesterday with a little bit of profit pushing the bank up to £116 ish. It's still on course to double in a month like it did in the early days but let's see.



There are still a decent amount of bets today and hopefully I can get to watch some of it this afternoon and build the bank a little more at the same time.

Peter Lundgren is Stanislas Wawrinka’s New Coach..

Peter Lundgren is Wawrinka's new coach and made these comments about his new job..

“When I asked what he wanted help with, he said he wants to return to the Top 10. It’s what you want to hear as a coach.

“I’m going to try to get Stan to become more aggressive.”

Lundgren has over the years worked with some top players including Federer, Rios, Safin and Baghdatis.

Only time will tell if his more aggressive approach works wonders and does propel him back into the top ten but a change can't be all bad for his game in my opinion.

Stan is currently ranked #26 so has his work cut out although in the last few months his defeats have come against decent players, losing to Federer twice, Isner, Nadal and Djokovic since winning in Casablanca although he did of course get dumped from Wimbledon in the first round by Denis Istomin, which could have prompted his change of coach.

A better day today for the system, hitting 8/9 and making a better profit of around 9% of the bank. I also now have Photoshop installed again so will just blur matches but leave the profit/loss clear.



The Davydenko match todidn't qualify as a selection today thank god as he was dumped out by Gimeno-Traver but I expect some people were not happy losing their money on him as he got trounced in the final set 6-1.

16 matches tomorrow so should be a decent amount of selections once again, hopefully followed by some more profit.

At Last A Little Profit...

Just a quick post again this morning. I still haven't reinstalled photoshop although I did just try and track it down on my external hard drive but had a bit of a job as everything was just chucked on there in a hurry when the last hard drive was dying.

A bit of the last few days losses clawed back and there is still a back bet on Ferrero outstanding who fingers crossed after a nights rest will win the tie break and take the final set.

Bollettieri Thinks Fed Has More Slams To Win...

From the Times of India...

Nick Bollettieri could wear the look of a smug man and maybe he does, the orange tan that is the trademark of the Florida sun slightly blurring the expression. For a man with over 30-years of coaching experience behind him and a Who's Who list of tennis champions among his former pupils, being right all the time, after a while, maybe loses its charm.

While most pundits began talking about Roger Federer's fading aura only after his sensational ouster by Tomas Berdych in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon recently, Bollettieri had already noticed chinks in the Swiss king's armour.

With 16 Grand Slams in his pocket, Federer surely hadn't forgotten how to win a tennis match but what he seemed to forget, according to the exalted tennis guru, was that 'he's the best'.

"Is the end of the Federer era near? Well, it's going to be very interesting because today there are 8-10 guys that can beat Federer or think that they can beat him. Earlier, no one thought they could beat him and that fear gave him an advantage. Players don't fear him anymore," was Bollettieri's summing up of the predicament that Federer finds himself in.

The road ahead of Federer isn't easy but its got little to do with his game or technique. He needs to keep himself fit as a fiddle to ward off the challenge of the young guns, according to Bollettieri.

"Federer must be as healthy as can be. If his movement falters at all like it did at Wimbledon, then he will be in deep trouble on the backhand side. Why? Because he's not in a good position to hit the ball, he can only slice the ball and that's not good."

Bollettieri, never one to mince words, lands a soft but telling blow. "A lot of players and sports writers wondered whether he has lost his competitive edge. I believe that Federer will win another Grand Slam or two. However, if he doesn't win either the US Open (this year) or the Australian Open (early next year), he may himself begin to doubt his ability," he predicted.

He added, "Then you've got Rafael Nadal, who's just 24 and can play on any surface but Rog is still the man. He's lost a little edge but he still is the man. Difference is now people are going to be looking furiously at whether he can still win a few more Grand Slams."

However, Federer remains Bollettieri's definition of a perfect player. "Nobody is perfect but he's damn close to being perfect. You have the Samprases and Lavers but Federer is the perfect player or very close.

A perfect player would be one who has total confidence in himself, plays the game like a true sportsman, respects the sport and its competitors, lives the life as a role model for youngsters and a player who can do little bit of everything and have one or two weapons, play defence and offense, serve and volley and attack and a player that is really physically and mentally unbelievable. Federer embodies all of that."



A slight loss again yesterday so a few chase sequences to go ahead with today if the right criteria fits. There has been many picks in the last two days so I expect quite a few from today's matches too.

An Up And Down Day...

Like the title says, an up and down day. I will try and get photoshop installed today so you can the profit and loss from each match but with the players blurred on some days. I only ever remember that I haven't done it in the mornings when posting the profit/loss and realise that I can't blur it out!

A loss though anyway so let's move on and see if we can make some back today with the chasing! I don't think any sequences will need to be broken down today unless many bets lose so I think I'll be ok.

British Tennis Is Thriving At Junior Level....

According to Becky Lee. Becky Lee is the coach at Huddersfield Lawn Tennis Club and was encouraged by the fact that the Wimbledon doubles final was contested by four Brits.

But she says she knows that when they make the step up to senior level around age 17 or 18 they just don't do enough.

She asks is it funding? I highly doubt that considering the countless millions that are piled into tennis training each year but is there definitely something wrong in the background? Or is it just the players are not good enough?



Why are they so good at junior level only to fail at senior level?

Here is the link to the full story if you want to read more.

http://www.examiner.co.uk/sport-news/other-sports/2010/07/12/tennis-british-tennis-is-thriving-at-junior-level-says-huddersfield-coach-becky-lee-86081-26831363/

Some More Matches Today At Last...

Just a quick post this morning especially with very little to write about. There weren't many matches yesterday and I didn't watch the Fish/Rochus match because the World Cup Final was only slightly more interesting to watch (in the end).

There are a few tournaments this week though and there are some of the qualifying rounds matches that meet the criteria so I'm already involved. Let's hope the bank can grow a bit this week by the end.

More Cheating Going On????

I was watching some of Schnyder/Ondraskova and left when it was 2-0 in the second set. I popped back near the end to check the score and there was a lot of talk about Patty tanking the second set then pulling it back in the third to win on purpose.

Now I didn't see it myself but from the comments I read it seemed clear she done it on purpose, any thoughts from anyone who saw it?

A winning day for me anyway and nearly made back the loss from yesterday. I have still haven't installed photoshop again either. There are a few more DC matches tomorrow so a few more bets and I'll be backing Szavay in the final tomorrow of her home tournament, that's one that the system has thrown up.

The balance is currently at just £108.50. After withdrawing the £330 ish a few weeks ago I only topped up with about £100 so I am technically playing with profit after keeping out the original £150 and an extra £50 so even if it goes bust from here I am £50 up.

I may top up slightly in the future but only if the bank is taking a while to grow. I would like to see the balance grow by the system only.


Spain lost in the DC to a team it hadn't lost to for 87 years... They won't be retaining their title once again anyway.

Dulko Shocks...

Dulko pulled off a shock win against her doubles partner Pennetta and Dulko is now 7-1 against Italians on clay. Pennetta has now won 79% of her matches when she is sub 1.50 odds and most of them are straight set wins so could be some good opportunities there for some nice price wins, although just not yesterday!

A losing day for me and with not many matches over the next few days as we approach the end of the week it will probably have to run into next week to make it back.

I still haven't installed Photoshop again so it's this screen shot rather than a blurred one showing each of the matches still.

Here is a news report regarding the Bloomfield/Rochus match which was very dodgy in the betting patterns area. Bloomfield went down to around 1.2 pre match and won in straight sets so questions were clearly going to be asked.

We all know nothing will be done but they have to have their token effort of investigation so make it seem like they want to stop it.

"Tennis officials are assessing reports of irregular betting on a first-round match between Richard Bloomfield and Christophe Rochus at the Hall of Fame grass-court tournament in Newport, Rhode Island.

Online gambling exchange Betfair told The Associated Press on Friday that Tuesday's match, which was won 7-6 (7-1) 6-3 by Britain's Bloomfield, attracted an unusual amount in wagers - more than STG1 million ($A1.73 million)- and was the subject of a dramatic price movement.

Bloomfield, ranked No.552, was rated even money against his 160th-ranked Belgian opponent. In the hours before the match, the odds on Bloomfield winning shortened to 1-4. After he won the first set, the odds shorted to 1-8.

"If people are willing to risk 4 pounds to win one, that is indicative of a substantial gamble," Betfair spokesman Tony Calvin said.

Notification of the irregular betting pattern was made to the Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU), an independent body created by the sport's governing bodies to lead the fight against corruption.

It is standard procedure for the betting industry to share irregular activity on its markets with the TIU.

No conclusion was reached by authorities about the match. There is no suggestion Bloomfield is implicated in the irregular betting."

I like it how Betfair comment saying it was a "substantial gamble" at that price and that it was reported but they still settled it right away with no chance of a void and them losing out of commission....hmmmmm.

Back To The Start...

I have realised I am messing around with the criteria too much in an attempt to find the winning sequences easier and quicker and this is not going to happen.

I am going right back to the simple criteria I used when starting the blog and will have to blur the screenshots of course to protect the selection crieria. I will start the blurring from another day as since I had to replace my hard drive I have not re-installed photoshop so will do that very soon.

I see the first negative comment has arrived and it's better than no comments at all! If only he had posted I was shit when I actually WAS shit, losing the money by scalping the football markets, instead of when I simply listed the matches that the criteria had picked that day. Unlucky, you can always leave a link to your blog of picks should you ever choose to do one and I'll be happy to follow you. :)

So, a massive 28p profit today as we have to still go from scratch to build the bank. I couldn't top up all of it after the withdrawal so it will be a long, slow process and I am more than happy to think long term with this. Let's see if it's made any money in 6 mths.

Some WTA Picks...

These are a few of the WTA picks that I will be doing throughout the day. Edit: some of the later matches too.

I will be backing these players...

Groenefeld 1.34
Dulko 1.4
Strycova 1.67
Schnyder 2.42
Soeda 1.65 (Now 1.35, looks like another Rochus style match)
Dulgheru 1.31 (This is a very confident one)
Ram 1.51
O Rochus 1.38 (should be around 1.28 according to my system)
Giraldo 1.33
Mahut 1.48

I haven't checked the Harrison/Kudla match yet so not sure who to follow yet. Schnyder could be the only underdog for today.

A Better Day...

A better day with a decent profit boosted by the fixer of course but it would have shown a profit anyway albeit a smaller one. Still plenty of matches to get involved in today so hopefully another good day.

I did write a better write up but it didn't post and I'm not writing again. Basically, Rochus is a known fixer and this was an opportunity not to be missed.