ATP - Radek Stepanek v Igor Andreev

ATP Cincinnati - Radek Stepanek (CZE) vs Igor Andreev (RUS)

The tournament starts to heating up today with matches like this one, which put face to face two Top 25 players. Radek Stepanek didn't start his Summer hardcourt tournaments campaign very well, having lost in the first round of Toronto against Feliciano Lopez by 4-6 6-3 6-4. Still, the Czech player continues to be one of the best players in the world on this surface and the fact that this tournament is played on a much faster surface than the Canadian Open will help him to explore better his serve & volley game. Even though he plays on such an offensive style, Stepanek is also a very good baseliner, being extremely consistent from both wings, being this one of the main reasons why he is also a good clay courter. He is also a very patient player and that's why he dominates ball bashers: 1-0 vs Tursunov, 2-0 vs Andreev, 1-0 vs Gabashvili, 3-1 vs Gonzalez, 2-1 vs Ginepri.

Igor Andreev is a typical ball basher. His patience on court is almost null and when he loses it, he barely uses his backhand and tries to hit his forehand almost in every shot. The problem is that this surface is so fast that he doesn't have enough time to hit the forehand with the right timing most of the times. Obviously that against another ball basher like Monfils and against an inconsistent Berdych, he got away from it in Toronto, but when he faces someone really patient like Stapenek, the results are completely different: 0-2 vs Stepanek, 0-1 vs Robredo, 0-1 vs Del Potro, 0-1 vs Simon, 1-2 vs Benneteau. Also Andreev has been struggling in facing good servers, as they obligate him to serve well, where he is extremely inconsistent: losses against Fish, Johansson, Mahut, Lopez, Karlovic, Delic and Querrey on fast surfaces in the past two seasons show that. Andreev has never done well in this tournament, as he has never passed the first round. Besides that, he needed medical timeouts in the Umag final against Verdasco and the most recently, on his loss against Nadal in Toronto, which shows that he isn't physically at 100% right now.

Stepanek has an excellent record in the USA (20-9 since 2007) and he is someone who feels like home on this type of surface. Andreev, besides some physical problems, clearly shows problems in facing players like Stepanek on fast surfaces, where he can't take advantage of his great forehand like he wanted. Stepanek is 11-3 after a loss this season, which shows how well he reacts to a loss. Against an opponent that he easily defeated in the two times he faced him, I expect the same to happen today. Take Stepanek minus the games in here.

Pick: 3 units (Regular Play) on Radek Stepanek (-2 Games) @1.87 na Pinnacle

Pick : Stepanek (-2 Games)
Odds : 1.87
Stake : 7 / 10
Bookmaker : Pinnacle
Match Result : 1-2
Tipster Personal Link/Sponsor: http://andregomes.apostaganha.pt

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