Chardy and Clement open their Paris Masters bids

Paris , France – The French tandem of Jeremy Chardy and Arnaud Clement will be looking to land spots in the Paris Masters second round when they go head-to-head against Juan Monaco and Feliciano Lopez respectively.

Tennis Betting Line: Jeremy Chardy -175 Juan Monaco +135

Match Time: 05:00 A.M. Eastern Time Tuesday November 10, 2009

Tennis Betting Verdict: Frenchman Jeremy Chardy enjoyed a breakthrough when he won the Mercedes Cup in the summer, his maiden ATP title. The resilient Frenchman is up to a career-high ranking of No.31 in the world and takes a 35-27 mark into the Paris Masters first round. But Chardy seems to have lost his way recently, more specifically, his game. He started the season strong with a runner-up finish in Johannesburg, and semi-final finishes in Delray Beach and Munich, before winning the title in Stuttgart. In the summer hard court swing, he started to slow down, finishing on a barely audible note with a first round exit at the US Open. Then there ensued a string of first round and second round losses in the fall swing. All this sets up Chardy in a rather unpromising fashion for a good run in Paris.

Nevertheless, Chardy has home edge as well as surface edge over Monaco and all this seems to have been enough to cast him as the favourite to snap up the second round spot that is up for grabs.

Argentinean Juan Monaco is 35-25 on the season but the bulk of his mark was hauled on clay. You see, Monaco is a bit of a clay-court specialist. In fact, he holds a 1-0 edge over Chardy after beating the Frenchman at the Monte Carlo Masters in spring.

Very little separates these two players on paper. They are a ranking apart with Chardy at No.31 and Monaco at No.30. Their season tally is commensurate. But Monaco has the decided disadvantage on this surface. During the fall indoor swing, he tallied a 3-3 mark with second round losses in Stockholm, Lyon and Valencia.

Tennis Free Picks: Chardy in three sets

Tennis Betting Line : Feliciano Lopez -190 Arnaud Clement +145

Match Time: 05:00 A.M. Eastern Time Tuesday November 10, 2009

Tennis Betting Verdict: Arnaud Clement recently upset Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the Lyon quarters 5-7, 6-4, 7-6(8). He didn’t make the big win count for much however as he went on to lose in the semis to eventual champion Ivan Ljubicic, rather easily mind 6-2, 6-4. Nevertheless, the Paris Masters is his first event since Lyon and Clement should be feeling confident of his chances – even if the bookies don’t, listing him as the underdog in this match. Clement has home edge going for him as well.

Lopez has a significant ranking edge over Clement and his recent encouraging outings at Shanghai and Vienna recommend him well. The bookies sure favour him to win outright, listing him as the favourite at -190.

In many ways, this match is a tossup. Lopez has been known to be spotty in performance, making him an unreliable favourite. Clement has home edge and occasional successful spurts making him the undecided underdog. There is value each way but the balance tips in favour of Lopez.