ATP Basel: Ljubicic takes on home favorite Wawrinka

Basel, Switzerland – Croatian Ivan Ljubicic is after winning his first title (ninth overall title) in two years in Lyon at the weekend, beating French favourite Michael Llodra to the prize. After seven of eight quarterfinal spots were seized by French players, it seemed more likely than not the French crowd would be celebrating a French champion. However, Ljubicic crashed the party and put paid on that notion, defeating Llodra 7-5, 6-3 in the final.

The 30-year-old Ljubicic has had barely enough time to celebrate his title victory before embarking on yet another ATP campaign, in Basel, Switzerland. As luck of the draw would have it, Ljubicic is set to open against Swiss No.2 Stanislas Wawrinka. Ljubicic has once again to spoil a nation’s party if he is to open a successful account.

Will Ljubicic silence the crowd or will Wawrinka give home fans something to cheer about on Wednesday night when the pair goes head-to-head?

Tennis Betting Line: Stanislas Wawrinka -130 Ivan Ljubicic -110

Match Time:08:00 A.M. Eastern Time Wednesday November 4, 2009

Tennis Betting Verdict: It will be the first meeting on 2009 when the pair collides in the first round at Basel. Wawrinka owns the more recent victory, having beaten Ljubicic in the semis at Doha (2008) but he trails 1-3 lifetime against Ljubicic. Keeping in mind that the victory was a long time ago, it doesn’t give Wawrinka any edge in this match.

Wawrinka has home edge, which could be helpful to anyone but him methinks. He isn’t a player known for rising to the occasion. Pressure doesn’t sit well with him and neither do expectations. Well, he hasn’t delivered consistently enough to prove otherwise. Instead, Wawrinka has flattered to deceive as a player on more than one occasion and his season has been rather lopsided. All of which makes him an uncertain bet at -130.

Ivan Ljubicic is up to world No. 25 this week, climbing four ranking points on Monday after winning the Grand Prix de Lyon title. The watershed moment for Ljubicic can be traced back to Shanghai a fortnight ago when he beat both Fernando Verdasco and Gael Monfils – two of the Tours’ bright stars – before a hip injury forced him to retire in the quarters against Rafael Nadal, level on a set apiece.

The impressive victories over the aforementioned starlet tandem proved that Ljubicic was still a relevant player in the game, even at the ripe age of 30. Admittedly, he gained confidence (his words) with those victories. And he couldn’t have underscored those victories better had he scripted his run to the title in Lyon himself.

Ljubicic is 31-21 overall on the season with one title. Obviously, he has quite a bit of momentum coming into Basel. He also has a 3-2 all-time edge over No.21 Stanislas Wawrinka. All of which makes him a good play at -110 to win outright.

Tennis Free Picks: Ljubicic in three sets