Evgeny, it's been a while since you get out from a tour in first round and I think it's time for you. In my opinion this Russian even if he is at top form if he stand against a player with struggling serve and feel a shadow of tie-break pressure he just collapse and lose. I can't believe how easy he give up against Kevin Anderson after nice win with Gonzalez. He just can't handle when opponent have no problems to hold their serve. Mahut is definitely one of strongest players at serve and it's always hard to bite a set from him. If his serve is going well only top players like Murray or Ancic are able to push him out. Of course without working serve even Gabashvili can beat him, but also in problems in second set after a tie-break. In last tour he lost in first round against Mario Ancic after two tie-breaks and now I hope he want to play a little at Masters Series tour. Korolev for a long time always was passing first, and many times second rounds in his tours but let's see matches with players that like to put a fire under the ball with own serve. Loss 2:0 against Berrer, Llodra, Murray and Kohlschreiber, even if last two don't posses very very strong serve it's hard to take it from them. And when Korolev don't posses too many situation to break his opponent he is starting to lose concentration in his own serve which is perfect for his opponents. If Mahut serve will work fine I see another one Korolev loss to 'strong-serve' player. Good Luck!

Pick : Mahut to win 2:0 in sets.
Odds : 2.75
Stake : 6 / 10
Bookmaker : Eurobet
Date : 2008-03-14
Match Result : Mahut 2-1
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