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Gael Monfils will take on Jan Lennard Struff in the Roland Garros second round in what will probably be a sold out event in the evening session on Philippe Chatrier.
Coming into his first round match against Hanescu I was questioning Monfils’ fitness, but the frenchman seemed to be 100% recovered in his first game after his anke injury 1 month ago. Gael looked fit and strong on his fit, but tennis-wise his level of play wasn’t all that impressive. From the 4 sets played (6-2 4-6 6-4 6-2), Hanescu was dominating the match in at least 1 set and a half, which is not good news for a player of Monfils’ caliber. Hanescu lost fitness late in the 4th set and that allowed Monfils to come back, but he needs improved performances if he is to go far in this tournament. The frenchman had a very good season so far in 2014, looking on track to regain that top 10 level, but seeing him in the first round I reckon he needs a couple more matches to shake off that ankle injury and the 1 month inactivity period.
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Bet with the best odds and highest limits at Pinnacle. |
Jan Lennard Struff might just be in the best form of his career. The german is on a career-best ATP ranking of number 62 and he is on the back of a winning effort at the Helibronn challenger, where he lost a single set on route to the title. Furthermore, Struff reached the semifinals at the ATP event at Munich prior to Helibronn, beating guys like Stakhovsky or F. Lopez before eventually losing big to Fognini in the semifinals. Jan Lennard confirmed his form at Roland Garros where he easily dispatched Olivetti in the first round. Although the opponent was rather poor, it was impressive how Struff managed to break down one of the best serves on tour in a 6-1 6-4 6-4 success.
There`s little doubt to the fact that Struff is playing excellent tennis right now. He might be a little tired after a lot of matches lately, but surely he will give it his all in a match against Monfils on center court in Paris. Gael is the better player and I expect him to eventually outpower the German, but Struff won’t make it easy. Jan Lennard is playing much better tennis than Hanescu at the moment and the romanian gave a hell of a fight to Monfils in the first round. Monfils might increase his level a little bit, but I don`t think it will be enough to dispatch Struff easily. Expect the german to create some winners here, make few mistakes and move very well around the court. The 5,5 game handicap line looks ok but my tip will be over 36,5 games, as this line gives us much more options at roughly the same odds as the handicap. Set betting wise, this will probably go down in 4. Prediction: Gael Monfils – Jan Lennard Struff 3-6 6-3 7-6 6-2.
Pick: over 36,5 games
Odds: 1.88 @ Pinnacle
Stake: 8
Possible profit: 7.04
Event date: 29 May
