The Overrule: ATP & WTA Miami

By Sports Magician

Thursday April 1st

The Overrule backed Andy Roddick each-way at the start of the tournament at 19.00 and the American has safely negotiated his way to the last four. However, he faces a mammoth task to reach the final if Rafael Nadal's performance against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is anything to go by. Nadal produced his best performance of the tournament to brush aside Tsonga’s challenge for the loss of only five games. The slow conditions in Miami are suiting Nadal perfectly and it’s hard to see Roddick hitting through the Spaniard, especially since Roddick’s game is more about grinding out wins these days, rather than blowing away the opposition as he used to do when he won his only Grand Slam title six years ago.

The Overrule is in line for a 4.00 points gain should Roddick reach the final, and a 13.50 points gain if he were to go on to win the title. We’ll shift our position in the outright market to Nadal, and we’d expect the winner of this semi-final to go off as the favourite in the final, no matter who the opponent should be.

PICK: 4*RAFAEL NADAL WIN MIAMI @ 2.2 (BOYLESPORTS)

Tomas Berdych was outstanding in toppling Roger Federer in a third set tie-break, but the Czech has often found it difficult to back up strong performances and Fernando Verdasco looks the value in their quarter-final clash. Verdasco was also impressive in disposing of Marin Cilic and the contest should feature some ferocious hitting with the lines looking to be cleaned by both players. Neither player is known for their ability to reign it in when the time calls, but Berdych’s all-risk game can often be a negative rather than a positive. Berydch leads the head to head 5-3 and destroyed Verdasco at Indian Wells, but with different court conditions at play, the result can be reversed.

PICK: 3*FERNANDO VERDADCO BEAT TOMAS BERDYCH @ 2.00 (BET 365)

Venus Williams looked shaky against Daniela Hantuchova earlier in the tournament but came back with a stronger performance against Agnieszka Radwanska. I wasn’t convinced Williams would make the final in Miami at the start of the tournament, despite a favourable draw. In spite of a few hiccups it looks more than likely that she will be in with a chance of claiming the title. The Overrule has opposed Marion Bartoli a couple of times in Miami - to our cost - but I’ve no hesitation in doing so again. Bartoli has been very fortunate to reach this stage of the tournament, benefiting from an injury against Svetlana Kuznetsova and somehow coming through in two tight sets against Yanina Wickmayer when she was largely outplayed. Sporting Bet are offering a –1.5 handicap on Venus to win the first set, and we trust that she will do so without the aid of a tie-break.

PICK: 5*(FIRST SET HANDICAP) VENUS WILLIAMS (-1.5 GAMES) BEAT MARION BARTOLI @ 1.50 (SPORTINGBET)

Sports Magician