Posted on 4/4/2008 7:36:37 PM

Tennis Betting - Road To The Finals

By Nila Amerova

Miami, Florida – Tennis bettors let me just put this out there: You remember the World No.2 Rafael Nadal right? I only ask because it seems like everyone has forgotten just how good he is. When Roger Federer’s title slump, Djokovic’s rising stardom and Roddick’s engagement to a supermodel hog all the headlines in tennis this year, it just seems like Nadal has taken a backseat to several players. But after today’s semifinal Nadal emerges from the shadows and with a real chance at winning the tournament he is right where he belongs—in the limelight.

Nadal, favoured at -175 (BetUS Tennis Odds) defeated No.10 Tomas Berdych (+ 135) in straight sets 7-6(6), 6-2 to secure his place in the championship match on Sunday, April 6, 2008. Next up for Nadal will be the winner of Andy Roddick vs. Nikolay Davydenko.

Rewind to the start of the Sony Ericsson Open: Discounting Nadal can be forgiven up until now when he arrived in Miami just after failing to defend his ATP Masters Series in Indian Wells title (l. to Novak Djokovic in the semifinal) and significantly without winning a title in 2008. The clay-court season just around the corner, few would have expected Nadal to pose a serious threat – at least at this late stage of the hard court season, just before the Tour returned to his beloved red-dirt courts where he has reigned supreme three years in a row, setting a Tour record of 81 match-wins on one surface.

Fast-forward a week and a half and five matches: And three-time French Open champion and 2005 Sony Ericsson Open finalist Nadal was the first player today to confirm his berth in the Miami final on Sunday. A victory separates him from winning his first ever Sony Ericsson Open title and his career tenth ATP Masters Series Shield.

There is a spirit about the Spaniard – a matador-ish fire that many insist had not been prevalent throughout the hard court season. But apparently this fiery spirit has made a debut here in Miami! Really?

Remarkably in spite of the alleged lack of spirit, Nadal has had more hard-court wins (21) than anyone has on the ATP circuit this year, which kinda blows the theory that he was in a slump up to this point. Further negating the theory that Nadal is in a slump is the fact that in five of six tournaments (including Miami), Nadal has reached no less than the quarterfinal, going to the semifinal twice (Australian Open and Indian Wells) and the final once (Chennai).

In the ATP Race, the Spaniard who has held the year-end ranking No.2 for a record three years in a row now, is still the No.2 player. Nadal is right where he has been all this time, it is just that with all the brouhaha over several other players no one bothered to notice!

More importantly, Nadal advances to his 13th career ATP Masters Series final and with an impressive 9-3 record he has a real chance of becoming the new Miami champion. The 21-year-old is chasing history in Miami as he is trying to become the fourth player since 1990 to win at least 10 AMS titles, joining the elite company of Andre Agassi (17), Roger Federer (14) and Pete Sampras (11).

So there you have it. Nadal is in the final. Now before we all jump ahead to the trophy ceremony, we are still one bet away from declaring the champion in Miami and my wager is on Rafael Nadal to steal the show!

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