ATP Paris Masters - Soderling and Cilic in action

Paris, France – Robin Soderling and Marin Cilic will be looking to land spots in the third round when they take on Ivo Karlovic and Lukasz Kubot, respectively in Wednesday’s busy second round.

Tennis Betting Line: Ivo Karlovic +140 Robin Soderling -180

Match Time: 05:00 A.M. Eastern time Wednesday November 11, 2009

Tennis Betting Verdict: Robin Soderling and Ivo Karlovic are set to go head-to-head for the fourth time in their careers when they kick off the second round on Wednesday. Karlovic, ranked No.39, owns the head-to-head edge over Soderling, currently up to a career high ranking of world No.10. The last time they met however was in 2008 at the ATP Masters Madrid (indoor) when Soderling was nowhere near the player he is today. Yet even then Karlovic struggled to beat Soderling, managing only to narrowly edge past the Swede 7-6(7), 7-6(8). The reason is that Soderling always favoured indoor hard courts. He could be struggling on any other surface but on indoor hard courts, he was a threat.

Karlovic will be looking to extend his positive trend over Soderling and record a mini-upset at the Paris Masters. The case against him is poor form making him a long shot. Soderling looks to be the better player right now because he has form and confidence going for him. He is the smart play.

Tennis Free Picks: Soderling in three sets

Tennis Betting Line: Marin Cilic -700 Lukasz Kubot +400

Match Time: 05:00 A.M. Eastern time Wednesday November 11, 2009

Tennis Betting Verdict: Polish qualifier Lukasz Kubot needs to score a massive upset if he is to stick around in Paris for a little longer. He showed he was capable of such an upset in Beijing when he took out Andy Roddick in his opening round match. Truth be told, Roddick was off-form at the time having not played since the US Open and maybe even playing injured. Of course, that shouldn’t take away entirely from Kubot’s victory, his biggest career win to date but we are yet to see whether he can back it up with another big scalp in his career. Kubot failed to back up his win over Roddick, falling to Ljubicic in the next round instead –but not before taking the first set in a tiebreak.

World No.13 and US Open quarterfinalist Cilic is a fast rising up-and-comer and another player amongst several to have enjoyed a strong Asian swing. He finished runner-up in Beijing and Vienna. Most recently, he was a quarterfinalist in Basel.

Cilic is the firm favourite in this match and there is little to suggest he will not advance into the third round. Cilic is on form and Kubot will be hard pressed to take anything away. Full stop.

Tennis Free Picks: Cilic in straight sets