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Novak Djokovic is a huge favorite to defeat romanian number 1 Victor Hanescu in the 2nd round at Indian Wells and of course the serbian should cruise trough this, but at a price of 1.01 the simple win is out of the question. Luckily, there are other betting options to take into account here.
Hanescu was very good at the beginning of the season, reaching the quarters at Doha and 2nd round at Australian Open, defeating the likes of Verdasco and losing close matches to solid players in both tournaments (F. Mayer, Raonic). He then went on to lose 5 of his next 6 matches playing on superfast hard courts, but got back to winning ways here on the slower IW surface, defeating Stephane Robert 7-5 3-6 6-4. It was a close match with many ups and downs but Hanescu was the more stable player in the end.
Djokovic played only two tournaments in 2014, reaching the quarters at Australian Open and the semifinals at Dubai, losing both times to swiss players: Wawrinka and Federer. The serbian did not play his usual best tennis in this start of the season but he`s still a force to be reckoned with for sure and the surface here at Indian Wells suits him well, so he`s expected to at least reach the semis. His form is ok, not as bad as some critics are suggesting.
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Bet with the best odds and highest limits at Pinnacle. |
Nole leads the H2H 6-0 and lost only 2 sets against Hanescu, last time in 2010 at Roland Garros. The two met only once since Djokovic’s emergence as one of the best 2 players in the game, and Nole won 6-4 6-1 2-3 Ret. (2011, RG).
Djokovic is known to blow out opponents in the early rounds of tournaments and I expect him to have little trouble against Hanescu. Victor is a decent player but nowhere near the level of the top guys and his form is shaky to say the least right now. He`s a clay court player so the surface is a huge disadvantage for him against Djokovic. Nole may not be at his absolute best, but he`s in ok form right now and should make it very hard for Hanescu to even win 4 out of 6 points to gain games. The romanian has no weapons to play against Djokovic: no high angle shots, bad court movement and his serve, while decent, is easily returnable, especially for one of the best players in the world when receiving. Robert had break points against the romanian, despite Hanescu putting in a solid 69% of his first serves in. Djokovic is known for his low number of unforced errors as well, so few solutions for Hanescu here.
Expect Hanescu to struggle to win points and concede a loopsided victory to the serbian, even if Djokovic could be a little bit rusty in the 2nd round. The 6,5 games handicap line is decent as I don’t see Victor winning more than 4-5 games against Nole. Djokovic easily defeated all his opponents this year aside from his 2 losses, and I rate all of those 6 opponents more dangerous than Hanescu on hard courts (maybe excelpt Lacko and L. Mayer). The only matches which were closer were against the big serving Istomin, twice (6-3 6-3 Dubai, 6-3 6-3 7-5 AO). My tip is Djokovic -6,5 game handicap. Prediction: Djokovic – Hanescu 6-3 6-1.
Pick: Djokovic (-6,5)
Odds: 1.90 @ Pinnacle
Stake: 8
Possible profit: 7.20
Event date: 10 March
