Friday Tennis - Marin Cilic vs Feliciano Lopez
By Nishant Joshi

Firstly, an update on our Sony Ericsson WTA Championship bets...our bet on Venus Williams outright is looking a bit ropey. After trading at 1.02 on Betfair vs Dementieva in her first match and losing to sister Serena after having a match point in her second match, she went on to lose both matches. Her form looks pretty poor although she should have won both matches. We are now relying on Kuznetsova to beat Dementieva today, in which case Venus would fluke her way through to the semi-finals, but I am not too optimistic. Our other bet of Caroline Wozniacki to top the White Group is looking decidedly better, after coming through two gruelling three-set matches. She has already qualified for the semi-final stages though, and after miraculously beating Vera Zvonareva last night whilst battling terrible cramps, I doubt that she will relish the thought of facing counter-puncher Jelena Jankovic today. There is a decent chance she could decide to give the match a miss, and I would not begrudge her after digging as deep as I've ever seen in a WTA match. Nonetheless, our 6.0 on her to win the group still looks big now - if she loses/withdraws vs Jankovic then hopefully results can go in our favour and she can still finish first.

Marin Cilic vs Feliciano Lopez



30th October 14:00 GMT

Lopez takes on Cilic today in the ATP Vienna Open and I think that he is massive value here. Cilic has had an excellent year but his season has been interspersed with the odd shocker vs lower-ranked players. Lopez has had a brilliant revival in the indoor swing after a terrible year, beating the likes of indoor giant Soderling in Shanghai just last week. Vienna is the scene of Lopez's only ATP tour win and with a 16-4 record at the event, it's clear that he relishes the event and the indoor season.

Cilic does not seem as well suited to the indoor courts, with his big forehand backswing always having the potential to go awry as the ball will rush onto him quickly on this surface. He has had a long season and will be looking to wind down, whilst I'm sure that Lopez will be looking to go the distance in this tournament, knowing that he peaks for one month every year. Overall, Lopez's slice backhand should frustrate the often impatient Cilic and I feel that the sissy Spaniard is without doubt the value of the day.

NJ's Bets:

Feliciano Lopez to beat Marin Cilic - 3.25pts @ 3.13 (Boylesports)