1. Round at the ATP Dubai Open

Wow, what a clash! A horrible draw for Federer, he has got the strongest opponent he could get, the third favourite to win the Dubai Open, behind him and Djokovic, I rate Nadal only as fourth. Murray is surely capable to be number 4 at the end of the year. Well, there are not many players who can trouble Roger, but Murray is certain one of them. He´s one of the best defense players today, with all the weapons to hurt Federer.

So Federer has to rely on his good serve, but that´s a big question. Even with a good percentage of first serves, this ain´t gonna be a walkover for Federer, I expect at least one set with 7:5 or tie-break, so 21 games (money back) or more won´t be a problem.

H2H is 1-1, but the last meeting was 2 years ago, when Murray was "just" a talented young player, just as Djokovic and Gasquet were.

Murray had won two tournaments (Doha and Marseille), but also first-round losses (Australian Open against Tsonga and Rotterdam ag. Haase). That´s extreme indeed. But if we look into the past, Federer has got always troubles in the first round in Dubai, 2005 vs. Minar, 2006 vs. Wawrinka and last year vs. Pless and today his opponent is Andy Murray.

My line would be 22,5 games so I´ll take this one.

Good luck!

Pick : Over 21 games
Odds : 1.80
Stake : 7 / 10
Bookmaker : 10bet
Date : 2008-03-03
Match Result : 7-6,3-6,4-6
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