in Tennis Free Picks

Okay, okay, for all you tennis bettors out there, this is the best time to put your money where my picks are. Okay, all attempts at humor aside, betting on tennis, particularly in the earlier rounds of a tournament, is almost a sure thing - if you have enough dough to cover the often high putout that goes along with the favorites.

Here are my picks for today's matches in two tournaments - the Brazil Open and the SAP Open, which both feature several safe

picks:

Open 13 1st Round

• Jan Hernych +600
• Richard Gasquet -1200

If you're a tennis aficionado, then you know Gasquet is an up-and-coming player that has an absolutely huge upside. Take Gasquet to roll, probably in straight sets.

• Mardy Fish -600
• Teimuraz Gabashvili +350

American Mardy Fish is playing excellent tennis right now and opened a lot of eyes at the Australian Open before bowing out late. Take Fish to fly here - or should I say, swim. Whatever ... Take Fish for the win. At -600, the wager couldn't be better.

SAP Open 1st Round

• Andy Roddick -1400
• Frank Dancevic +650

If I had $1400, I'd lay it on Roddick in the blink of an eye. If that doesn't tell you everything you need to know, then that's your loss.

• James Blake -1200
• Igor Kunitsyn +600

Blake is almost always a sure bet in the early rounds of any tournament. However, all bets are off for me with Blake once the quarterfinals begin.