TENNIS boff Mark Stinchcombe (@markstinchcombe) gives us three hunky fancies from Day 2 at the US Open.
Kei Nishikori v Benjamin Becker | Tuesday 16.00
It's about time Kei Nishikori's body broke down again isn't it?
After retiring with a rib injury against Marin Cilic at Wimbledon 6-1 5-1 down (much to the dismay of some WeLoveBetting readers), he's had a run to the final of the Toronto Masters and won bronze at the Olympics.
Following these efforts he's then been beaten in straight sets in the 3rd Round of Cincinnati by Bernard Tomic when priced 3/10.
Tomic has had an up and down year (28-20) with some questioning his attitude, but he'd already beaten Nishikori earlier this year, which brings us on nicely to today's opponent Benjamin Becker.
Their head-to-head stands at 2-2, although both of Becker's wins came six years ago in 2010, however he did take the first set in Nishikori's home country two years ago.
Nishikori's record at the US Open is questionable, seemingly dependent on what state his body is in by the end of the summer, with the last three years reading R1-Final-R1 coupled with two retirements in previous years, and there must be some fatigue with the extra Olympic schedule added in.
Other than beating Steve Johnson and Ernests Gulbis, Becker hasn't had much to write home about this year, but with Nishikori 1/100, there looks to be some value opposing him and his fragile body.
Becker has won the first set between the two in three of their four meetings, 3/3 on hard court, and as short as 5/1, the 9/1 (Ladbrokes) available looks too big to ignore.
Lukas Rosol v Andy Murray | Wednesday 01.30 | Eurosport
Lukas Rosol 48.0? Jeez, that's big isn't it?
The same man who beat Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon in 2012 is almost 50/1 to beat an Andy Murray who's seemingly played non-stop tennis for two weeks prior to Flushing Meadows.
That's how I'm looking at things, that Murray is very short at 1.02 having faced Raonic, Nishikori, Cilic, Del Potro et. al (none of his 12 matches have been against cannon fodder) with little rest.
Rosol hasn't been up to much this year, but did beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the Davis Cup and took Stanislas Wawrinka to five sets at the French Open.
They've played twice in the last two years and whilst Murray has won them both, Rosol has taken a set, the first to be precise, both times.
The Scot has been fairly ruthless of late but here at the US Open, has dropped a set in 13 of his last 19 matches (68%), including v Mannarino, Kuznetsov, Haase, Istomin and Mayer, and over the best of five sets it's very easy for anyone to drop their concentration for a few minutes and cost a set.
Rosol is 7/2 (Ladbrokes) to win a set (I'm hoping we might see bigger with only a few firms up) and 10/1 (Winner) to take the 1st which look worth investments to me.
Best Bets
Kei Nishikori v Benjamin Becker – Benjamin Becker to win the first set (9/1 Ladbrokes)
Lukas Rosol v Andy Murray – Lukas Rosol to win a set (7/2 Ladbrokes)
Lukas Rosol v Andy Murray – Lukus Rosol to win the first set (10/1 Winner)
