Analysis for Llodra-Koubek (US Open)

Head-to-head 2:0

Michael Llodra of France will meet Austrian veteran Stefan Koubek in the battle for third round spot at US Open. Our pick in this match is Frenchman. He played Koubek twice in his career and defeated him easily in both cases (both of these matches were played on hard courts). His career was slacked up by several serious injuries but his potential has always been indisputable. Llodra is a solid player especially on hard courts. He has a very good serve and powerful shots from both sides. His disadvantage could be stamina but Koubek is at the age of 34 much slower than he used to be during his best years. He is a very experienced and former top 20 player but he has always been more dangerous on clay. He hasn’t been impressive at all during this year so far (with the exception of Chennai at the beginning of the year) and he played the best YTD match here in the first round. He surprisingly defeated American bomber Querrey but the match was influenced by the lack of experience on the side of young American. He was just knocked out of the game after the first tiebreak and Koubek easily finished him. We still think that Llodra is a better hard court player, he plays in a better shape and he should be the bigger favourite in this clash. Odds above 1.7 could be taken here.