Berdych – Gulbis

Ernests Gulbis is on the back of the win of his career against Roger Federer and he will try to capitalize on that, but the Latvian will have to do it the hard way, as he will meet a high flying Tomas Berdych in this mouthwatering Roland Garros quarterfinal.

Gulbis had a great year so far, his work ethic improved and he managed to post an impressive 27-10 win loss record prior to Roland Garros. Here in paris he got past Kubot (3-1), Bagnis (3-0) and Stepanek (3-0) before defeating Roger Federer in a 4th round epic five setter (6-7 7-6 6-2 4-6 6-3). I did not trust Gulbis to get past Federer, I was convinced the swiss will use his experience to rout the inconsistent latvian, but I was wrong. Nevertheless, Roger should have won that match: he had Gulbis on the ropes at 7-6, 5-3 and 40-15, but missing an easy overhead at set point completely shattered Federer’s convidence and he never really quite recovered after that. Gulbis played good tennis but he did not impress me too much, he made a fair share off errors and was very lucky to not go down 0-2 in sets.

Bet with the best odds and highest limits at Pinnacle.

In the last 2 years Berdych made the jump from Top 10 player to a guy who can really challenge the top guns and fight for Grand Slam semifinals and finals. Tomas is continuing his improvement this year, he had a great season, including an Australian Open semifinal, losing in a close match to Wawrinka. Berdych’s consistency at Grand Slams lately is impressive and he did not disappoint here at Roland Garros either: Tomas got past some very dangerous players, including Bautista Agur or Isner, losing just two sets along the way. His best match came in the last round against Isner, a dominant 6-4 6-4 6-4 win, and I expect Berdych to keep improving his level in the latter stages.

Berdych leads the H2H 4-2 (1-0 on clay) and he won the last two meetings, including a lopsided victory this year at Rotterdam (6-3 6-2). Gulbis seems to have some problems playing against the czech.

Listen, Gulbis has an amazing arsenal of shots, he`s a great talent and he`s playing good tennis, but Berdych is the better player right now. Gulbis’ win over Federer is far to be a guarantee for further success at this tournament, actually I expect that five setter to have taken a little bit out of Ernests both physically and mentally. Berdych is really solid right now, serving well, rarely missing shots, and he should be able to force errors from a still inconsistent Gulbis. The H2H is also an important factor in the Czech’s favor. My tip is Berdych to win and the odds are going down on this bet. I`d say 4 sets is a reasonable expectation. Prediction: Tomas Berdych – Ernests Gulbis 6-7 7-6 6-4 6-3.

Pick: Berdych
Odds: 1.69 @ Pinnacle
Stake: 9
Possible profit: 6.21
Event date: 3 June