Kremlin Cup Semi Final: Dementieva v Jankovic

Tournament: Kremlin Cup, Moscow, S-Final
Court: Indoor / Carpet
Prices: Betfair

Dementieva: 2.58

Jankovic: 1.62

I've been predicting / waiting for the demise of both of these players all week to no avail. Finally one of them must fall here at the semi-final stage. But which one? I'm going to have to say it will be Jankovic. The fatigue will creeping up on Jankovic and she is currently success rich, and might have used up a lot of her fight over the last two tournaments. We all know Jankovic will push and push and is one of the fittest and strongest players on the tour, but she is not the bionic woman, not quite. Although perhaps I will take that back if she ends up with the title here in Moscow, holding off all the Russians here will be some feat. Over the net from Jankovic we have Dementieva who has also been defying my predictions of her demise. She is the defending champion and will be playing in front of a much more significant crowd today. I've doubted her ability to handle pressure of expectation - especially on the back of indifferent form, but in all honesty Elena has performed very well indeed over her matches here. This tournament really matters to her - far more than it will to Jankovic - and I think this extra desire will see her overcome Jelena in three sets.

Pick: DEMENTIEVA 2 pts @ 2.58

Kremlin Cup Semi FInal: Safina v Zvonareva

Tournament: Kremlin Cup, Moscow, Semi-Final
Court: Indoor / Carpet
Prices: Betfair

Zvonareva: 2.60

Safina: 1.61

In this price bracket Safina is +5.16. As an underdog Zvonareva is +0.87. Recent match ups favour Zvonareva, but I would have to still throw my support here to Safina. Again I think it will come down to who handles the big occassion better and I would have to suggest that will be Safina - who will also benefit from having played one match fewer so far than Zvonareva. That's not to say I have not been very impressed with Zvonareva's play in this tournament where she has dispatched her opponents very clinically so far, even if they might not have been the tours toughest or most inform foes. I would think the outcome of this match will be similar to that of the Q-final with Kuznetsova, whom I believe poses about the same level of threat to Safina.

Pick: SAFINA 3 pts @ 1.61

Kremlin Cup Q-Final: Kuznetsova v Safina

Tournament: Kremlin Cup, Moscow, Q-Final
Court: Indoor / Carpet
Prices: Betfair

Kuznetsova: 2.54

Safina: 1.64

In this price bracket Safina is +4.55. As an underdog Kuznetsova is -2.13. Again with these two well known players I don't feel the need to add too much. The 1.64 on Safina here is good value in my opinion as the difference here will be the surface and the scale of this match. Both of these aspects will favour Safina, who is the bigger hitter and the better in big match situations. This all Russian Q-Final in Moscow definitely counts as a 'big' match for both these players and that always seems to affect Kuznetsova in the negative, whilst Safina is definitely more comfortable with winning when it counts. The head to head match ups suggest that when these two play the best chance Kuznetsova has is when they play on clay. That is the opposite of what we have here and the recent dominace shown by Dinara in this match-up is likely to extend. Go Safina, it's good value.

Pick: SAFINA 3 pts @ 1.64
Won: +1.82

Kremlin Cup Q Final: Zvonareva v Cibulkova

Tournament: Kremlin Cup, Moscow, Q-Final
Court: Indoor / Carpet
Prices: Betfair

Zvonareva: 1.23

Cibulkova: 5.2

In this price bracket Zvonareva is +2.82. As big underdog Cibulkova is -3.50. That is enough to kill my interest in this match here and it gets worse once you start adding in the other factors. Zvonareva had 2 easy matches getting here against Kirilenko and Hantuchova who both folded like a house of cards for Vera. Cibulkova has already made a significant achievement for her by scalping a top 10'er in Ivanovic and she needed 3 tough sets - and a little luck - to do it. Then we add in the home crowd which will be getting bigger every match. Zvonareva also is playing for her place at Doha, whilst Cibulkova is essentially playing for scalps and pride. So there it is, Zvonareva will win here, but at a measly 1.23 I am not really interested.

Pick: No Bet

Kremlin Cup Q Final: Dementieva v Petrova

Tournament: Kremlin Cup, Moscow, Q-Final
Court: Indoor / Carpet
Prices: Betfair

Dementieva: 1.71

Petrova: 2.38

Defending champion Dementieva facing Petrova in an all Russian Q-Final here and not much really needs to be said about either player. Both very strong, both priced about where you'd expect and I'll be siding with Petrova here for two reasons. Firstly is the fact that Petrova had an easier time in her last match because of Wozniacki retiring during the 2nd set, she will be fresher in my opinion. The other is Azarenka, whom they both recently played in the Porsche GP in Stuttgart. Dementieva was soundly beaten and Petrova comfortably beat Azarenka in the semi-final. Of course this is not always massively relevant, but I feel here that the Petrova game is the one in the higher gear at the moment. She is moving up the rankings at a steady pace and everything is going well. Elena is having a less consistent time of things although she seems a lot brighter here in Moscow as defending champion. The pressure is a notch higher here though and I think Petrova can steal the glory in this match.

Pick: PETROVA 2 pts @ 2.38
Lost: -2.00

Kremlin Cup Q Final: Jankovic v Pennetta

Tournament: Kremlin Cup, Moscow, Q-Final
Court: Indoor / Carpet
Prices: Betfair

Jankovic: 1.26

Pennetta: 4.7

Jelena Jankovic has been in tremendous form as everyone knows. Here she is chasing her 3rd consecutive WTA title and in this match her 10th consecutive win. Her recent blog from Moscow mentioned how she was really feeling the affects of her winning streak - and subsequent high amount of court time back in the Stuttgart semi-finals, and since then she has barely had much recovery time at all. I would presume that this winning streak is about to come to an end, but will it be here against Pennetta or will she make it through to either the semi-final or final? In her last match Jankovic attracted a measly price of 1.10 and Dushevina managed to capture the first set on a tie break. In my view a fresh Jankovic makes much shorter work of someone like Dushevina, and my small punt at 10.0 still seems a smart move even though it lost. In this price bracket Jankovic is +1.57.

To topple what we expect will be a tired Jankovic we will need a rested and somewhat in form opponent. Does Pennetta provide this? She has had far fewer matches coming into this tournament, but her two matches so far have both been tough three set battles; especially the Williams match - which is always a tiring victory. As big underdog Pennetta is showing a massive +12.02. Obviously her form has been pretty decent and her confidence will be high after beating Williams and the tricky Russian Makarova. Pennetta is certainly a good enough player and her forehand has been in fine order so far, thus I conclude that 4.7 is a price worth taking against Jelena here.


Pick: PENNETTA 2 pts @ 4.7
Lost: -2.00

Kremlin Cup 2nd Round: Jankovic v Dushevina

Tournament: Kremlin Cup, Moscow, Round 2
Court: Indoor / Carpet
Prices: Betfair

Jankovic: 1.10

Dushevina: 10.0

In this price bracket Jankovic is +1.57. As big underdog Dushevina is -4.60. Jankovic has won 15 of her last 17 matches stretching back to the start of August. She is currently seeking her 9th straight win during a hot spell of form that has seen her capture back to back titles and reclaimed the number ranking from Serena Williams. How long can this trend continue? Jankovic is good, but she won't go on winning forever and a slip up against a lowly ranked opponent wouldn't be the strangest thing in the world. I'm not convinced that this is going to be the match in which she falls but 10.0 on Dushevina - a Russian playing in Moscow, who has logged significantly less court time in recent weeks than her opponent seems to good a deal to turn down? But is it? Dushevina had a decent enough warm up to this match despatching the misfiring Vaidisova in 3 sets. Not massively impressive at all, but she has also been hammered by youngster Liscki 1&0 in Korea and even managed to flatter the equally form deprived Ana Ivanovic back at the US Open. Not exactly the sort of form that suggests she can upset the current best player in the world. Almost everything suggests supporting Jankovic here, but at this measly price I prefer to stay away, and you know strange things sometimes happen in ladies tennis when they look absolutely least likely. I'm going to pop a single point on Dushevina and pray that a lot of Russian pride and a slab of Serbian tiredness conspire to bring a tennis miracle.


Pick:DUSHEVINA 1 pts @ 10.0
Lost: -1.00