Analysis for Mathieu-Guccione (Adelaide)

Head-to-head record 1:0

Guccione burst onto the scene in the 2004 Medibank Int tournament, where he defeated then-recent world No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero. Guccione is noted for his excellent service (eg. he hit 50 aces in a qualifying match at Wimbledon in 2005). The good service has led fellow Australian player Mark Philippoussis to call him a "Wayne Arthurs clone". January 2006 Guccione managed to once again defeat Ferrero. The last season was his best so far. Guccione began 2007 season in Adelaide in a great shape. He was given a wildcard into the Adelaide event and made the most of it beating Amer Delic, Benjamin Becker, Arnaud Clement, Richard Gasquet and Del Potro to reach his first ever career ATP tour final. In the final, he lost to Novak Djokovic of Serbia. After his success at the Adelaide International, Guccione defeated Rafael Nadal in the first round of Medibank International tournament. Guccione's 2007 season then turned disastrous not recording one win for over a month. He played several more solid matches during the year, especially on faster surfaces. His opponent, Paul Henri Mathieu of France is known for being able to hit heavy groundstrokes from both wings and his topspin forehand is probably his biggest weapon. He is a relatively popular and well-liked player despite his inconsistent career results. His favourite surfaces are clay and hard. Mainly thanks to his inconsistency, we see a slight value on Guccione´s side. We expect this match to be a tight battle that could be decided in one or more tie-breaks. Odds above 3 can be taken for a small stake.