The Atlanta Tennis Championships begin this week as a stage for hard-court specialist to perfect their game before the U.S. Open. American Andy Roddick leads the odds, but the best bet can be found from his fellow American compadre John Isner.
Spain dominated in Sweden and Germany last week with Albert Montanes and Nicolas Almagro earning surprise wins at the Mercedes Cup and Swedish Open, respectively. The ATP Tour now moves to North America with a new stop in Atlanta instead of the U.S. Men’s Hard Court Championship in Indianapolis. Roddick accepted a wild card invite and carries around the same odds as when he won the event in 2001. His hard court match record for 2010 is 26-4.
Nikolay Davydenko led the odds in Germany last week but was dismissed in the first round. The same shouldn’t happen to Roddick. He hasn’t played on the tour since his loss to Yen Hsun Lu at Wimbeldon, but Roddick has an easy road to the last eight at the Atlanta Championships. He will face Rajeev Ram or Karol Beck in the first round and possibly Xavier Malisse in the next round. The bottom half of the draw has more talent with Mardy Fish, James Blake, Taylor Dent, Horacio Zeballos and two-time Indianapolis champ Robby Ginepri. If Genepri, who lives in Georgia, plays like he did in the French Open, he has great value to make the final against Roddick.
Roddick is 11-1 against Ginepri. But, Ginepri won against Roddick at Indianapolis. The more likely scenario is Isner and Roddick in the final on Sunday. Lleyton Hewitt will be Isner’s biggest obstacle as Hewitt is 3-0 over the American. Isner should be fully recovered from his record-breaking tennis match length at Wimbledon over Nic Mahut, so he may be able to add to his two ATP tour finals and Auckland title at Atlanta. One longshot includes Teimuraz Gabashvili who beat Roddick at Roland Garros. The sportsbooks listed here are trustworthy for your online betting. For a list of untrustworthy sportsbooks known to scam online gamblers, visit the sportsbook blacklist.
Atlanta Tennis Championships Outright Odds (provided by Party Bets)
Andy Roddick: 6/5
John Isner: 9/2
Lleyton Hewitt: 9/2
Mardy Fish: 7/1
James Blake: 20/1
Janko Tipsarevic: 22/1
Robby Ginepri: 25/1
Benjamin Becker: 25/1
Xavier Malisse: 33/1
Dudi Sela: 33/1
Horacio Zeballos: 40/1
Taylor Dent: 40/1
Teimuraz Gabashvili: 40/1