ATP Kremlin Cup – First Round Tennis Picks

Moscow, Russia – This week at BetUS Sportsbook, in the sports betting market, tennis odds are currently available for the Kremlin Cup. The top seeds all kick off their 2008 Kremlin Cup in an action-packed couple of days of tennis in the first round. Top seed Nikolay Davydenko heads up a line-up that includes second seed Igor Andreev, third seed Mikhail Youzhny and fourth seed Paul-Henri Mathieu amongst several others.

So what are you waiting for when there is so much tennis betting on offer at BetUS Sportsbook. To get you started, here are some choice first round picks.

Tennis Betting Line: Mikhail Youzhny -350 Teimuraz Gabashvili +225

Match Time:03:00 AM Eastern Time, Wednesday October 8, 2008

Tennis Betting Analysis: Last week in Tokyo, Youzhny pushed to the R16 where he was upset by Rainer Schuettler of Germany. The No.22 ranked Russian has not had a great start to his indoor hard court swing. His disappointment in Tokyo last week was just another in string of underwhelming tournament showings since the start of the summer hard court season. He brings a 4-5 mark on hard court events to Moscow.

At the start of the year, Youzhny won the Chennai Open, beating Rafael Nadal in the final. Upon his title victory, he seemed poised for a great season and for a while, it looked to be so as he carried the momentum into the Australian Open, reaching the quarterfinals there and followed up with a quarterfinal run in Marseille, a R32 at the Indian Wells Masters and a R16 at the Miami Masters. Since spring though, Youzhny has struggled to produce consistent results. Overall, he is 27-18 for the year.

Tennis Betting Verdict: Youzhny is the favourite and he should win his opening match against No.66 Teimuraz Gabashvili of Russia. He beat his compatriot once before – at the Miami Masters in 2007.

Tennis Free Picks: Youzhny in straight sets

Tennis Betting Line Mischa Zverev -175 Denis Gremelmayr +135

Match Time:03:00 AM Eastern Time, Wednesday October 8, 2008

Tennis Betting Analysis: No. 84 Denis Gremelmayr is a real threat on clay courts, but a lesser threat on hard courts. Weighing in at No. 84 in the world, the German lefty brings a 15-19 mark to Moscow; his best run in a hard court event was in Los Angeles where he reached the semis. No.98 Mischa Zverev is a lefty who brings a 13-21 mark for the season to Moscow, his best performance a quarterfinal run in New Haven.

Zverev was born in Moscow but moved to Germany to further his tennis career. He now plays for his adopted country. This is important as in theory he could have a slight home court edge feel in Moscow, but he would be battling, at the same time, a compatriot in Gremelmayr. A bit of an unusual dimension in this matchup so it is hard to say who has the intangible edge.

Tennis Betting Verdict: The odds makers favour Zverev but given that very little separates the two players this match could go either way. I expect a close contest. The better value is on Gremelmayr.

Tennis Free Picks: Gremelmayr in three sets

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