in Tennis Free Picks

With a stunning second round in Dubai that saw the fall of third seed Nikolay Davydenko to Olivier Rochus in three sets 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 , Gilles Simon in straight sets 6-4, 6-2 to Fabrice Santoro and Tomas Berdych in two close sets 7-6(6) 6-3 to Mikhail Youzhny, the quarterfinals at The Dubai Tennis Championships is all ready for a spectacular showdown.

With so much action, here are some free picks for the tennis betting fan on the matchups in the quarterfinals of The Dubai Tennis Championships

Top half of the draw:

Prediction: With an unbeaten streak of 38 matches, Roger Federer is simply the man to beat in tennis, never mind the quarterfinal match at the Dubai Tennis Championships. So what are the odds on Djokovic to accomplish this feat? At a price tag of +1000, a $100 bet would payout a cool grand! A tempting bet to say the least.

Considering Novak is a top 20 player, it would not be an outrageous bet to make. Surely, Federer cannot be that invincible. However, in the same breath, Federer is in a league of his own, and while Novak Djokovic is a great player in his own right, it would be unthinkable to imagine Federer falling at this stage!

Pick: Federer is straight sets

Prediction: World No. 9 Tommy Haas has been on a bit of a winning streak. Having won last week’s RMK Championship title and leading 1-0 in head-to-heads against Olivier Rochus, he is the favorite to advance in this matchup. While World No. 34 Olivier Rochus may pose some contest, Tommy Haas should have no problem advancing to the semifinals.

Pick: Haas in straight sets.

Bottom half of the draw:

Prediction: World No. 60 Fabrice Santoro and World No. 29 Robin Soderling are evenly matched and the victory could go either way. While Fabrice Santoro ranks lower than Robin Soderling, he leads 1-0 in their head-to-heads, albeit that victory was back in 2005. Soderling is favored to advance in this match and even the score but, should Santoro cash in on his underdog status, his price tag of +170 could almost double your wager.

Pick: Going against the favorite, Santoro in three sets.

Prediction: This matchup will probably be one of the most interesting in the quarterfinal round of the Dubai Tennis Championships. Mikhail Youzhny, who arrived in Dubai fresh off of his win in Rotterdam at the ABN AMRO Tournament, is shaping up to be one of the hottest players on the ATP tour. Youzhny definitely has the ability to pull of the upset here though trails in their head-to-heads 2-3, with the most recent win going his way at the US Open in 2006. Nevertheless, Nadal is the Dubai Tennis Championships defending champion and he should arrive on center court to defend his title against any threat that Youzhny will pose.

Pick: Nadal in three sets.

Dubai, U.A.E.

February 26 - March 3, 2007

1,426,450 / 32 Draw

Hard

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