
DEMENTIEVA-PEER
Probably the big news for Dementieva is that she didn't hit a single double fault in her second round match against Anabel Medina Garrigues. The Russian player still dropped the first set, but she was facing someone who is tricky to play and is a Top 35 player. A third round match in a Grand Slam is something natural for Dementieva, who is one of the best players in the WTA circuit for almost 8 years. She is capable of hitting very hard from the baseline and she is also known for being a warrior and being capable of recovering from unbelievable situations. This kind of surface suits her game, as it gives her time to prepare her powerful strokes. She didn't have a nice beginning of 2007, but she improved a lot at the end of last year and she was capable of winning a Tier I (Moscow) by destroying Serena Williams in the final. She is 5-2 ATS against players between the places 10 and 19 in the rankings in the last twelve months. Shahar Peer is far from the level she has presented at last year's Australian Open. The fighting spirit is still there and that was the main reason why she was capable of defeating Dinara Safina at the Gold Coast for example, but her game is being too erratic for a player who has in her consistency as her major weapon on the court. The fact that she was already destroyed by Viktoria Azarenka (a player who is capable of hitting consistent powerful strokes from the baseline like Dementieva) by 6:4 6:2 this season shows that her amazing defensive game isn't enough to counter the powerful game of some of her opponents. She may return a lot of balls, but if she can't counter and her opponents don't commit unforced errors, it comes to a point where Peer won't be able to return the ball anymore. Dementieva is the most experienced player of the two and the new surfaces suits her more than the Israeli player. Peer struggles against powerful and consistent baseline hitters (0-2 vs Dementieva, 0-1 vs Azarenka, 0-3 vs Serena, 0-2 vs Hantuchova - in matches outside clay) and it shouldn't be different time this time. Take Dementieva minus the games in here.
MATHIEU-KOUBEK
If there is something, Paul-Henri Mathieu can do on a court is return serve. He is winning more than 40% of the points played on his opponent's service games, something remarkable as we are talking about matches played on hardcourt. The French player is always dangerous to face on a fast surface, as he can hit very well from both wings and he is always capable of hitting a winner from any place of the court. Mathieu has only been broken twice this week (once in each match he has already played in here) and his service stats have been pretty consistent. That's pretty good for him, as there is always a chance of him breaking his opponent's serve everytime it's his time to return. The French player is 5-1 ATS (last 6) vs left handed players outside clay. He is also 4-1 ATS (last 5) on Grand Slam third rounds. Stefan Koubek has defeated two players with a better ranking than already him this week, but getting a third one today seems hugely unlikely. Carlos Moya has always been a great matchup for him and Agustin Calleri can always screw himself everytime he is in a position to win a set in an important match. The Austrian player hasn't been impressive on his serve and that's bad news for him, when he will face one of the best returners in the world. His serve is attackable and his great defensive game won't help him a lot against such consistent player from the baseline as Mathieu. Paul-Henri Mathieu is clearly the better player of the two on hardcourt and he is also the one who has been more impressive this week. He should be also the player of the two will less problems in holding serve, in a game that may be close from having more than ten breaks. Take Mathieu in here minus the games.
YOUZHNY-KARLOVIC
Mikhail Youzhny is having a great beginning of this season, as he is 7-0 SU and 5-2 ATS in 2008. Youzhny is a typical bad matchup for big servers, especially in a relative slow surface as this one. Youzhny is capable of hitting very well from both wings and he is also a good servers, especially against weak returners as big serves use to be. Youzhny is the typical player who is pretty hard to stop, when he has the momentum on his side and it should be no exception in this tournament. Ivo Karlovic is clearly struggling this week, even though he has reached a Grand Slam third round for the first time in years. The reason? The lack of aces. He has hit 34 aces in two matches until now (8 sets played). This is good, but not for his standards. At last season's US Open, he had 38 in one match (5 sets), in Wimbledon in 1 match he had 31 aces (5 sets) and even at Roland Garros he hit 52 aces in 2 matches (9 sets). That's weak if we compare to his normal numbers. The reason for this? According to him, the surface is too slow and he is struggling with the heat and humidity that Australian always offers at this time of the season. The fact that this game will be played at the hours where the temperatures reach their highest point won't help him neither. Youzhny is clearly the player who has been more impressive and with Karlovic lacking aces, he is going to have a great shot to break his serve. Also Karlovic is on a 5 tie-break losing streak, something that makes Youzhny also a favorite if a tie-break is played today. Youzhny should win this match and cover this small handicap. Take Youzhny minus the games in here. DOUBLE DIME PLAY.
TSONGA-GARCIA-LOPEZ
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is playing extremely well this week and it looks like he has no problems in handling the pressure everytime he is the favorite to win a match on a Grand Slam. He is 5-0 SU, 5-0 ATS and won all 5 matches 3-0 in sets, everytime he is a favorite in a Grand Slam match. That's remarkable. Tsonga is serving well and he must be quite confident after taking out Andy Murray in the first round and being capable of defeating Sam Warburg without dropping a set. He is putting an average of 60% first serves in and winning an average of 76% of these points, something that will turn him quite hard to break on this match, especially at this stats include a match against the best returner of fast surfaces in the world, Andy Murray. His powerful baseline game will leave Garcia-Lopez without any chance in being aggressive in this match, something that he won't like, as he will never be able to get his normal rhythm during the game. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez will play his first ever third round match on a Grand Slam, but he had to work a lot to reach this stage of the competition. The Spanish player had two very hard matches against Juan Ignacio Chela and Alejandro Falla, baseline contests where he had to run a lot and he should feel already a little bit tired, thanks to his good effort this week. The main problem with Garcia-Lopez is being his serve and he was already broken 11 times this week, unlike Tsonga who was only broken by 6 times and 5 of them were against Andy Murray, who is a world class returner. The Spanish player is 4-18 SU vs good servers outside clay, which doesn't surprise me, as this type of players is a bad matchup for him, as he struggles to break serve against such good servers and his service games are always in jeopardy, as he is far from being a good server. Garcia-Lopez will win less than 50% of the points played on his 2nd serve, while that won't happen with Tsonga, who has a good second serve. Also Garcia-Lopez will mostly have a worse 1st serves in percentage than Tsonga and he will need to use his 2nd serve more than the French player. Tsonga has a more powerful game than Garcia-Lopez and he is also the better player on this surface. If a tie-break is played, Tsonga will be the clear favorite to win, as he is 8-1 on tie-breaks played on hardcourt in the last twelve months. Garcia-Lopez may be a tough opponent in the beginning of the match, but if Tsonga is capable of winning the first set (most likely by a break of difference or in a tie-break), then the resistance of the Spanish player will diminish. Take the French player to win in straight sets in here.
CANADIENS-TRASHERS
Though not normally considered a defensive team, Atlanta is playing much better defense of late. Take the Under tonight when the Thrashers host the Montreal Canadiens.
Led by sniper Ilya Kovalchuk, the Thrashers aren't normally thought of as a "defensive" team. However, they've actually been playing rather well at that end of the ice recently. In fact, despite slipping above the number on Tuesday, Atlanta has seen the Under go 3-1 their last four games.
The Montreal Canadiens saw their streak of high-scoring games come to an end when they managed only one goal en route to a 4-1 loss at Madison Square Garden on Saturday. The Canadiens' power play, which had been clicking, produced just one goal on eight opportunities. That goal came in the third period with the Rangers leading 4-0.
Note that Montreal also came up empty on two 5-on-3 advantages totaling 2:44 in time. The Canadiens followed that up by combining with the Islanders for just four goals on Tuesday.
Looking at the series history, we find that both of this season's meeting produced five combined goals. Looking back further and we find the Under at an impressive 10-1-1 the last dozen times that these teams faced each other. Consider a play on the Under.
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