Bank of Austria Tennis Trophy Quarters - Monfils vs. Gonzalez

Vienna, Austria – Though the Kremlin Cup has garnered a lot of attention in the tennis betting market for the sensational line-up of players that headed to the Russian capital to participate in the tournament, the line-up that assembled at the Bank of Austria Tennis Trophy was no less awesome.

The tournament suffered some shock upsets in the early rounds though when top seed Stanislas Wawrinka, third seed Ivo Karlovic, sixth seed Tommy Robredo and seventh seed Gilles Simon were served. In the second round, the tournament received another setback when red-hot betting ticket, Juan Martin Del Potro was forced to withdraw from his second round match with a right foot injury.

But even with the loss of some of the tournaments glitterati, the eight men standing are still impressive. In the bottom half of the draw, second seed Fernando Gonzalez remains the highest seeded player still alive in the tournament. He reached the quarterfinals in dramatic fashion, saving five match points against Latvian Ernests Gulbis for the 4-6, 7-6(11), 6-1 victory in two hours and 11 minutes.

Frenchman Gael Monfils (seeded eighth) beat Radek Stepanek 6-4, 6-3 to book his place in the final eight. So as these two men prepare to battle in the bottom half for the two semi-final spot that is on the line, here is a look at their exciting matchups.

Tennis Betting Line: Fernando Gonzalez vs. Gael Monfils

Match Time: 03:00 AM Eastern Time, Friday October 10, 2008

Tennis Betting Analysis: Gael Monfils started the season slowly (in all fairness, he was coming off injuries), but also, where he is concerned, on-court strategy is not always his strong point. However, at Roland Garros, Monfils enjoyed an inspired run into the semis, and immediately after, followed up with another semi appearance in Nottingham. Recently, Monfils reached the semi in Bangkok. Overall, Monfils is 22-14 for the year. He improves to 24-14 in Vienna.

No.12 Fernando Gonzalez has had a good year. He won two ATP titles earlier this year on clay and picked up the silver medal at the Beijing Olympics. He is 37-13 for the year. Gonzalez is an interesting player. Uber talented, when he is on, he is devastating off both wings. He plays a high-risk game, going for outright winners.

This strategy can lead to a lot of unforced errors though, especially when he is off.

Tennis Betting Verdict: This will be an exciting matchup in the quarters for sports bettors to bet on. Monfils and Gonzalez are in some respects alike. They will go for fancy shots and outright winners. High-risk tennis will make an exciting game to watch – lots of “ooohing” and “aaaahing”. For the most part, Gonzalez has been on his game of late. In the second round, he averted the nigh-upset when he forced a third set of Gulbis. He could be rattled a bit though which could cost him against Monfils.

Monfils had been on a roll as well. He has many strengths but his handicap is his mental game. If he gets down early, he could play himself out of the match quicker than expected.