Betting Angles at the BNP Paribas

Paris, France – The players that have descended on Paris to compete in the ninth and last Masters event on the calendar are some of the best on the ATP tour. Plenty tennis betting angles to consider here as the wild 2008 season winds down.

All attention will be focused on the foursome of Nadal, Federer, Djokovic and Murray as they compete for the huge title at stake, but of the “Big 4”, Federer is the only one not to have won a Masters event this year, so a lot of scrutiny will be directed at him as he vies to avoid another Masters malaise. Federer hopes to join the ranks of his four counterparts who have won several Masters shields this season: Nadal (3), Djokovic (2) and Murray (2).

Federer got no favours from the draw though when he fell into the same section as Lyon champion Robin Soderling – a potential second round encounter. Also in his path to the final eight is big serving Croatian Marin Cilic who could potentially emerge in the third round. In the quarters, David Ferrer or James Blake are his toughest potential challengers.

Top seed Nadal falls into a tough top section that includes 6th seed Nikolay Davydenko, 12th seed Stanislas Wawrinka and 16th seed Gael Monfils. Dark horse Tomas Berdych also falls into the same section and could shake things up. Nadal is set to open his tournament against the winner of Llodra vs. Serra – neither of which should give the Majorcan much trouble.

Looming intriguingly for Nadal is Monfils – the player slotted to meet him in the third round. Should he survive the challenge of the Frenchman, Nadal could face either Berdych, Wawrinka or Davydenko in the quarters. Berdych could give Nadal a good run for his money but Wawrinka and Davydenko are not certain. Given they are mired in brutal slumps it is quite possible neither would reach that stage to even get a shot at Nadal.

Adding drama to this event are the players on the brink of qualifying for the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai – most notably, Juan Martin Del Potro, Gilles Simon, David Ferrer and James Blake. A good result in Paris is practically essential if they hope to be invited to the prestigious eight-man showdown in Shanghai at the end of the season.

David Ferrer and James Blake fall in the same corner of the draw and could potentially meet in the third round. Fittingly, their Shanghai bid will be determined amongst themselves.

Gilles Simon the runner-up at the Madrid Masters a fortnight ago – and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga have a huge chance of snagging a Shanghai berth each before a partisan crowd. The Frenchmen fall into a wide-open section of the draw where potential upsets and shakedowns are likely to occur. The highest seeds flanking the third quarter of the draw are [3] Novak Djokovic and [7] Andy Roddick. Djokovic has been largely a yawn in the latter half of the season, while Roddick has had a motley of results – some good some not so good.

Defending champion David Nalbandian and compatriot Del Potro have played twice in the last two weeks and as they fall once again in the same section of the draw they are on a collision course to meet in the third round in Paris. The winner would most likely get Murray in the quarterfinals. Nalbandian, who was a finalist in Basel on Sunday, along the way beat Del Potro in the semis, avenging the loss he suffered at the hands of the youngster – Del Potro had dealt Nalbandian’s Madrid title defence campaign a cruel blow in the third round when he beat him in straight sets.