Grand Prix Budapest Picks - Szavay and Bondarenko bid for semis

Budapest, Hungary – The Grand Prix Budapest enters the quarterfinal round on Friday and BetUS Sportbook has tennis betting odds and lines already available for the day’s roster. Hungary’s own Agnes Szavay is the highest seed still alive in the tournament and she will face Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland for a spot in the semis. Elsewhere, Shahar Peer will battle Alona Bondarenko for the second semi spot in the bottom half of the draw.

Tennis Betting Line: Alona Bondarenko -120 Shahar Peer -120

Match Time: 06:00 A.M. Eastern Time Friday July 9 2009

Head-to-head Analysis: Shahar Peer leads the head-to-head series 3-1, which includes beating Bondarenko at Fed Cup this year.

Tennis Betting Verdict: Shahar Peer enjoyed an encouraging 2007 term and many hoped she would build on the breakthroughs in that year. But she struggled in 2008, and by 2009 her career took a significant backward trajectory and she currently ranks No.63 in the world. She is better than her ranking would suggest. This week she hit a fine run of form (nice to see) to reach the quarters, improving her YTD mark to 18-11. She takes a comfy head-to-head edge over Bondarenko into this match. Bondarenko is 18-16 on the season, which includes a quarterfinal appearance in Madrid and a runner-up finish in Warsaw. According to the market, this matchup is a toss-up. Bondarenko and Peer are both listed at -120. So which player is the value bet? In my opinion, it is Bondarenko – seeing that she had some standout results in clay court tournaments this season.

Tennis Free Picks: Bondarenko in three sets

Tennis Betting Line: Timea Bacsinszky +275 Agnes Szavay -450

Match Time: 08:45 A.M. Eastern Time Friday July 9 2009

Head-to-head Analysis: Agnes Szavay leads the series 1:0; they have not met since Paris in 2007, when Szavay was enjoying a standout season and bet Bacsinszky 6-2, 1-6, 6-4.

Tennis Betting Verdict: Since 2007, Agnes Szavay has been but a shadow of herself. After the breakthrough year she had a disappointing 2008. In 2009, she has been modestly good. She arrives in Budapest with a 16-14 mark; she improves to 18-14 in reaching the quarters. That said, recommending the 20-year-old Hungarian is home court edge. She has been solid this week and with the crowd firmly behind her, backing her at -450 favourite odds would seem to be the better play.

Tennis Free Picks: Szavay in straight sets