French Open: Day 8 Preview and Picks
By RICKY DIMON
(4) ANDY MURRAY (-175) VS. (15) TOMAS BERDYCH (+138)
This could be the match of the tournament so far. Berdych will see a ton of action after his straight-set destruction of John Isner and because of Murray’s perceived ineptitude on clay.
But Murray is actually playing impressive clay-court tennis since going down two sets against Richard Gasquet in the first round. His four-set win over Marcos Baghdatis was the best I have ever seen him play on the slow stuff. Plus Berdych is a perennial underachiever at Grand Slams.
Pick: Murray in 5 sets
(8) JO-WILFRIED TSONGA (+108) VS. (11) MIKHAIL YOUZHNY (-117)
Tsonga has never made it past the fourth round of the French Open (granted he has only played the thing twice) and he will hard-pressed to do it this time. He’s done very well just to make it this far, seeing how he was down a break in the fifth set of his first-round match with Daniel Brands and almost went down two sets to Thiemo De Bakker on Friday.
Youzhny, an all-court player who is a proven winner on clay, has generally been in cruise control so far this week. Tsonga was favoring his back against De Bakker and I really don’t think he is 100 percent. And even with a 100-percent Tsonga, Youzhny still would have the edge on this surface.
Pick: Youzhny in 4 sets.
(3) CAROLINE WOZNIACKI (-150) VS. (14) FLAVIA PENNETTA (+110)
Wozniacki was questionable to even take the court at Roland Garros because of an ankle injury. Now she finds herself in the fourth round and playing high-quality tennis.
But bettors should know Wozniacki has not faced anyone like Pennetta. The Italian won a clay-court title last month in Marbella and she has lost a mere nine games in three French Open matches. That’s one and half games per set for those at home counting. Pennetta is simply too good on clay for Wozniacki.
Pick: Pennetta in 3 sets.
(17) FRANCESCA SCHIAVONE (-250) VS. (30) MARIA KIRILENKO (+175)
The surface should be a major factor in this one as well. Kirilenko upset Svetlana Kuznetsova on Friday, but don’t overreact to that one. Kuznetsova may have been the defending champ, but she’s in terrible form this season. Kirilenko is better on hard courts and she’ll get a free clay-court lesson from Schiavone.
Parlay this with Elena Dementieva (-600 vs. Chanelle Scheepers) if you want to increase the payout. Scheepers is out of her league in the fourth round of Grand Slam and Dementieva’s serve is not as exposed on clay. The Russian is a lock to win.
Pick: Schiavone in 2 sets and Dementieva in 2 sets