Tennis Odds & Bet: James Blake vs. David Nalbandian

Written by Caitlin Patton
Tuesday, 02 August 2011 17:48

There’s a great bet to make in today’s Legg Mason Tennis Classic match between James Blake and David Nalbandian.

Online sportsbooks have set Nalbandian as the -130 betting favorite over Blake for this 7:00 PM ET clash, and all of the Legg Mason Tennis Classic action is set to take place in Washington D,C, USA.  Nalbandian is the defending Legg Mason Tennis Classic champion and received a bye in the first round while Blake easily dispatched of Tatsuma Ito in a 6-3, 6-3 romp.  These two have only met up once over their long careers, with Blake winning a 6-4, 6-1 hard court match back in 2006 at the Tennis Masters Cup in China.

Nalbandian has been playing better tennis this year but I am concerned a bit with some potential rust since the Argentinean has been on the sidelines since Wimbledon in June.  Since the Legg Mason Tennis Classic is played on a hard court, it’s encouraging to note that Nalbandian actually has a better record on this surface than Blake despite being considered a clay court ace more than anything.  He’s extremely durable and I don’t see him having many problems with Blake’s declining serve.

Blake just hasn’t been playing strong tennis and is actually just 8-7 on the hard court this year despite a .648 lifetime win ratio.  The good news for the American is that most of his losses this year were too tall players with big serves, and the 5’11” Nalbandian definitely doesn’t fall into that category.  Since he doesn’t have a dominant serve, getting from side to side on the court is extremely important to Blake’s success.  He’s dealt with knee problems in the past but has stated that the brace he sported on Monday is preventative only, and that his previous problems are not bothering him currently.

When all is said and done, I think we are getting a nice price on Nalbandian and that he’ll be able to avenge his previous loss.  Blake is no slouch but between the constant injury concerns, the lack of form in recent matches, and the high level of play for Nabandian lately, there is simply no way I can back the underdog at these short odds.  Blake is a streaky player that is always capable of going on quality runs against top competitors, but I just haven’t seen anything lately to make me believe that he’s going to be back to that form anytime soon.

Tennis Prediction: David Nalbandian 6-4, 6-4