Memphis 1st Rd Feature match: All-American affair Isner and Harrison battle

Memphis, USA –The Regions Morgan Keegan Championships & the Cellular South Cup tournament gets underway this week and features both men’s and women’s action. Online tennis bettors should definitely keep an eye on this tournament because of the many leading story lines and interesting back-stories that are certain to make this an interesting event.

Stealing the headlines in the men’s draw is top seed Andy Roddick and second seed Fernando Verdasco, reuniting for a second consecutive week in a tournament. The pair featured as the top two seeds last week in San Jose and squared off for the SAP Open title; Verdasco beat Roddick in a thrilling three set finale on Sunday. The big question: might they make an appointment for a rematch in Memphis come Sunday?

Figures of interest, John Isner (the sixth seed) and Sam Querrey (the eighth seed) will certainly try to put paid on that notion any which way they can. Querrey is in Roddick’s corner and he could potentially collide with A-Rod in the quarterfinals. Isner is in Verdasco’s section and he would be slotted for a semi-final clash against the SAP Open champion.

Both American hopefuls will be looking to account well in Memphis, if not compete for the title. Certainly, both are dark horse and capable of shaking up the draw. John Isner is the first to step up to the plate and he will close out the day’s session in Memphis when he takes on Ryan Harrison of the United States.

Tennis Betting Line:

John Isner -4½ -115 -900 21½ O -125 U -115
Ryan Harrison +4½ -125 +450 21½ O -125 U -115

First Set Line: John Isner -500 Ryan Harrison +300

Match Time: 10:00 PM Eastern Time Monday February 15, 2010

Tennis Betting Verdict: The market on this all-American affair is clearly one-sided. John Isner is a massive favourite at -900 to win outright and a solid -500 favourite to take the first set. The tennis betting trend will fall in line with the market for obvious reasons. Isner is an American on the rise. He is after winning his maiden ATP title in Auckland and finishing in the Aussie Open R16. The 24-year-old, 6’9” Isner is also up to a career-high ranking of No.25.

By contrast, Ryan Harrison is outside of the top 300 and a greenhorn at this level. Understandably, he is the large underdog at +450 to win outright and the +300 underdog to take the first set.

The betting on this match is straightforward. Isner is across the board the best play. At -900, he is the right play to win and he is the smart play for the first set at -500. Harrison’s only shot is to lose respectably by making the match challenging. Home soil is perfect condition for a competitive match; surely, Harrison would need all the help he can get to account well against his more illustrious opposite. As such, the Over 21 ½ -125 is a potential play (it is the favoured outcome) as is Harrison to cover the spread at +4 ½ -125.

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