in Tennis Free Picks

San Jose, CA, USA
February 12-18, 2007
$416,000 / 32 Draw
Indoor Hard

The world class SAP Open event that kicks-off on Monday February 12, 2007 in San Jose California is loaded with top players, namely seeded No. 1 Andy Roddick, No. 2 James Blake, No. 3 Andy Murray, No. 4 Marat Safin, No. 5 Mardy Fish, No. 6 Benjamin Becker, No. 7 Hyung Taik Lee and No. 8 Vincent Spadea.

Prediction: World No. 184 Sam Warburg will be playing his first event of 2007 at the SAP Open. Arriving as a wild card to this event, there is very little to indicate his potential for an upset against No. 87 Amer Delic, who holds a 2-3 win/loss record for the year thus far.

Pick: Amer Delic in straight sets.

Prediction: Qualifier Brian Wilson ranked No. 249 faces the favored No. 93 Yen Hsun Lu in the first round of the SAP Open. However, considering that the stats do not indicate a huge advantage for Lu, Wilson’s price tag of +145 is a tempting bet and not entirely a stretch. Wilson will be playing to a home turf, and with a crowd full of fans, he might just ride the cheering waves to a victory.

Pick: Brian Wilson in close match.

Prediction: World No. 88 Feliciano Lopez is favored on the line against No. 91 Rainer Schuettler and, with a 5-1 head-to-head lead, Lopez should breeze by Schuettler with very little effort.

Pick: Lopez in straight sets.

Prediction: If there is a seed to fall in the first round, perhaps it will be the No. 8 seed, Vincent Spadea. World No. 79 from Thailand, Danai Udomchoke, is a very good player and has on occasion been able to surprise. Holding a 4/2 win loss record for 2007, I like his odds in this match against Spadea. Moreover, with a +190 price tag, he is a good bet for the upset.

Pick: Udomchoke in straight sets.

Prediction: Defending champion and No. 3 seed Andrew Murray should have no problems against Kevin Kim. Enough said.

Pick: Andy Murray in straight sets.

Prediction: Runaway favorite and first time SAP Open entrant, the No.4 seed Marat Safin should exert very little effort against wild card Scott Oudsema, who ranks No. 261. Marat Safin will be anxious to impress the crowds in California and reassert himself in the ranks.

Pick: Safin in straight sets.

Prediction: No. 25 Mardy Fish is on a good streak and, following a great start to 2007 with a 7/2 win/loss record, Fish playing on home turf should breeze past No. 99, Georgian Teimuraz Gabashvilli, without breaking into a sweat.

Pick: Fish in straight sets.

Prediction: No. 2 seed James Blake has had a brilliant start to his 2007 campaign, claiming the Sydney Final. At the Australian Open, he had a good run and followed with an even better run at the Delray Beach tournament where he was a finalist. Playing on home soil, James Blake should breeze past Igor Kunitsyn in the blink of an eye.

Pick: Blake in straight sets.

Prediction: No. 90 Bjorn Phau is favored in this matchup against No. 116 Konstantinos Economidis. They meet for the first time. While this match could go either way, I like Phau’s odds in this matchup.

Pick: Phau to advance in three sets.

Prediction: No. 49 Benjamin Becker is favored against No. 364 Dusan Vemic. Benjamin Becker should advance according to predictions against the veteran Vemic.

Pick: Becker in straight sets.

Prediction: No. 7 seed Hyung Taik Lee is favored against qualifier Phillip King. However, this matchup could go either way and, going out on a limb here, I think Phillip King could pull of the upset and drop a seeded player out of the tournament in the first round.

Pick: Phillip King in three sets.

Nila Amerova is a freelance sports writer and regular contributor to the BetUS.com Locker Room.

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