ATP - Richard Gasquet v Michael Llodra

ATP Toronto - Richard Gasquet (FRA) vs Michael Llodra (FRA)

This year's edition of the Canadian Open will be inaugurated in the centre court with an All-French affair between Richard Gasquet and Michael Llodra. If we look to the seasons of these two players in 2008 until now, this match may look to be really close, but I don't think that will actually happen. As you most known the Canadian Open is played in Montreal on odd years and in Toronto on even years. So, this edition will be played in Toronto, where Gasquet in the only time he has played in here reached the final and even won the first set of the final against Federer by 6-2, before losing by 2-6 6-3 6-2. Gasquet has regained some of this confidence by reaching the first final of the season in Stuttgart two weeks ago and now he comes to a part of the season, where he can have a good run. Last season he had a disastrous run in the Summer hardcourt season, as he lost on his first match in Montreal against Verdasco, after blowing several match points, had to give up in the middle of his first match of Cincinnati against Hewitt and got injured again and he couldn't play his second round match in the US Open. So, the good part of this is that he doesn't have any points to defend in the coming weeks, so he has a great shot to comeback to the Top 10 once again (he is currently 12th).

Now onto his opponent. Llodra has conquered two very important titles in this season (Adelaide, Rotterdam) and he is having a career season, but injuries have now starting to appear and the French player is currently struggling. Llodra has to give up on his last two matches and he hasn't played since his first round match at Wimbledon. That was one month ago, which is time enough to make Llodra lose his rhythm of play and make him struggle at least today, on his first match in a month. He has a great serve and his volleys are almost perfect, however Gasquet's backhand passing shots will make him think twice before coming to the net without having the point almost won. Llodra has lost his last five matches on hardcourt and he is 2-9 on his last 11 matches played on North America. Llodra has never performed well on the Canadian Open and he is 0-3 on the main draw of this tournament on his career.

Matchup wise, Gasquet has a great serve and he shouldn't have much problems in holding serve against Llodra, who is a known bad returner. Llodra will struggle to find rhythm on his serve and his first serve percentage should be low. If that happens and with Gasquet having a superior baseline game, I can see Gasquet dominating the points played on Llodra's second serve. Gasquet is 14-5 against his French team mates in the last two seasons, showing how comfortable he is while playing his country mates. He is also finding his best form, while Llodra is coming back today to the tour after an injury. I expect Gasquet to have a comfortable win in here. Take Gasquet minus the games.

Play 3 units on Richard Gasquet (-4 Games) @1.909 on Pinnacle

Pick : Gasquet (-4 Games)
Odds : 1.91
Stake : 6 / 10
Bookmaker : Pinnacle
Match Result : 2-1
Tipster Personal Link/Sponsor: http://andregomes.apostaganha.pt

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