Tennis Betting Picks: Americans Blake and Fish begin Delray Beach campaign

Delray Beach, Florida – Americans James Blake and Mardy Fish will hope to give the crowd something to cheer about when they begin their Delray Beach campaigns. James Blake will have a tougher path to the second round however as he takes on another American, Taylor Dent. Appropriately, the all-American affair is the marquee billing of the day, scheduled for prime time. Meanwhile, Mardy Fish is gearing up to go head-to-head with Belgium’s Christophe Rochus earlier in the day.

Tennis Betting Line:

Christophe Rochus +4 -130 +300 21 O -125 U -115
Mardy Fish -4 -110 -500 21 O -125 U -115

First Set Line: Christophe Rochus +225 Mardy Fish -350

Match Time: 05:30 PM Eastern Time Tuesday February 23, 2010

Tennis Betting Verdict: Mardy Fish has yet to strike an audible note on the 2010 season. The American is in the negative ahead of his first round clash against Christophe Rochus, 3-4 on the season, a mark that includes back-to-back first round exits at the Aussie Open and Memphis. Fish was ousted by world No. 128 Andrey Golubev in Melbourne and by No.73 Leonardo Mayer in Memphis. Fish, a former top-20 player (2004) and ranked as high as world No.20 last year, seems to have lost the plot. He was always streaky and inconsistent but right now, to put it bluntly, he is slumping. Coming in at No.73, Fish needs a good start in Delray Beach to get his season going.

Fortunately, for him, Rochus is completely off his game with a 0-3 mark on the season and a ranking outside of the top 100. Fish really should win this match. But where he is concerned, nothing is a sure thing. At 500 to win outright, the market is rather generous in pricing Fish. But it is the way to go as Rochus isn’t a viable alternative seeing as he has yet to win a match on the season.

Tennis Free Picks: Fish in straight sets

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Tennis Betting Line:

James Blake -3½ -115 -300 22½ O -125 U -115
Taylor Dent +3½ -125 +200 22½ O -125 U -115

First Set Line: James Blake -225 Taylor Dent +175

Match Time: 09:00 PM Eastern Time Tuesday February 23, 2010

Tennis Betting Verdict: James Blake and Taylor Dent have the misfortune of colliding in the first round of Delray Beach. It is never easy starting a campaign against a compatriot and friend. It is the way of things in competition however and these two will have to set aside any warm fuzzy feelings towards each other if they hope to advance into the second round.

Blake enters this match as the market favourite listed at -300 while Dent comes in at a price of +200. Although the market is clear which way it leans, this match is not going to be straightforward. Neither Blake nor Dent has gotten his season off the ground yet. Blake is a lowly 3-4 while Dent is a mere 2-5. Both are on back-to-back losing streaks and most likely a bit low on confidence as well.

What this says is that this match could see several momentum shifts with no clear indication of which player will win. Blake owns a 3-1 head-to-head edge over Dent but as the mark is completely out-of-date (the last time they clashed was in 2004), it should have no bearing on this match. Having said that, if I were to play with house money, Blake would be the pick.

Tennis Free Picks: Blake in three sets

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