Posted on 5/12/2008 4:09:05 PM

Tennis Betting - Masters Series Hamburg - First Quarter Betting Preview

By Nila Amerova

Hamburg, Germany – Last week, tennis betting at the Tennis Masters Series (TMS) Rome, wherein Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer were eliminated way before the final movement and a whole slew of players withdrew (for a variety of reasons) from their matches, served brouhaha in tennis picks. Now the online tennis betting community at BetUS Sportsbook is going to have to pick up right from where it left off at another TMS event – the TMS in Hamburg running this week from May 12 to 18, 2008. BetUS tennis betting market is taking action on the Hamburg Masters –an event that promises another illuminating week of sports betting. So to get started wagering online on tennis, the following is a betting preview on the first quarter of the draw.

Last year in the final, Roger Federer avenged two years of clay-court torment at the hands of Rafael Nadal, snapping the World No.2’s 81-match clay winning streak and thwarting a historic sweep of the clay ATP Masters Series titles by the Spaniard. It was his fourth title in Hamburg; he won in 2002, 2004-05 and 2007.

This year, Federer enters the draw as the top seed. In his section of the draw, fifth seed David Ferrer looms as a potential quarterfinal opponent, but he is the least of his concerns at the moment as both players have a fair bit of match play to survive before the final eight in Hamburg are determined. Among the challengers in his section and bidding to dethrone the reigning champion is Robin Soderling, Igor Andreev and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Nearby threat, Guillermo Canas was eliminated in the opening round today, leaving the quarterfinal spot to be grabbed by Ferrer or potentially by Fernando Verdasco, Michael Llodra or Ivo Minar.

Federer has to be considered the favourite to emerge out of this quarter, but in reality, the semi-final spot is up for grabs. If last week’s Rome Masters were an indication – wherein Federer lost in the quarterfinal and Ferrer lost in the second round – both players could have a difficult time just making it that far this week. The question is whether Federer can bounce back from the disappointment last week, where he squandered the golden opportunity the elimination of Nadal in the opening round presented in winning his first title in Rome. What’s more, should Federer and Ferrer navigate a berth in the final eight, Nikolay Davydenko –who is not in a terribly difficult section of the draw – is slotted as the opposition in the final four.

The bedrock of talent close at hand means Federer cannot completely look ahead to a showdown with Ferrer – nor for that matter, a premier position in the final four. The only guarantee for sports bettor is that it will be a wild week in tennis betting to the semi-finals.

So there you have it! A nice short tennis betting preview of some of the exciting tennis betting action on the ATP Masters Series Hamburg available in the online sports betting market at BetUS Sportsbook. Now that you are all read up, you are ready to start wagering on tennis!

Nila Amerova is a freelance sports writer and regular contributor to the BetUS.com Locker Room.