ATP Monte Carlo - 1st Round
3 * Massu, Nicolas v Volandri, Filippo - Massu, Nicolas to win @ $2.00
Ok first of all the bad thing about this play and most likely the reason why Volandri enters as the favourite is he holds a 4-1 lead over Massu however the last time these two played was back in 2005. I believe Volandri has dropped off since then. Furthermore Volandri retired from the Valencia ATP tournament last week with a Stomach Bug. He made it to the 3rd round but in my honest opinion was lucky to get past Koubek as he retired in his game in the 2nd round. I feel that Volandri could struggle in this game as he has struggled against players ranked in the top 50 this season. Volandri has yet to beat a top 50 player this season as well. Sure Massu is coming off an injury as well, but if you saw highlights of that game he was looking great and the only real reason why he retired was 2 and half hours earlier he took 2 hours and 40 minutes to win his way in the final. The good thing from what I have read is that the trainer said there wasnt any realy muscle soreness there from what he could tell. Lets hope Massu comes out and fires up and gets the win if he dosnt fire up lets hope he retires and the bet is voided.
3 * Portas, Albert v Hrbaty, Dominik - Hrbaty, Dominik to win @ $1.70
Lets start with the good news first for this one, Hrbaty has a 2-1 head to head record against Portas however the last game was back in 2002. Portas has had to go through back to back 3 setters to get here. (1 match his opponent retired in the 3rd set which was the 1st qualifying match) Portas has recently had sturggles on the challanger curcuit and hasnt had too much go his way. Hrbaty is coming off a rather good game against a very poor opponent in a Davis Cup tie but I believe that will work in his favor as it will build up his confidence which I believe he is lacking after some poor showings this season. One thing I like about Hrbaty though is I feel the Clay court will work out in his favor he does hit a lot of power shots which will trouble Portas on Clay and I like the fact that he is also a short 6ft tall. Portas is 6ft 2 and I always have the opinion that on clay courts the advantage usually does go to the smaller player. Lets see if that mind of thought is correct today.
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