Analysis for Monaco-Troicki (ATP Auckland)

Head-to-head record 0:0

In Auckland tournament, Argentine Juan Monaco will play Serbian player Victor Troicki. Under the normal conditions, we would probably never back Juan Monaco on hard surface but he posted a nice win over Hanescu yesterday and we were really impressed by his play. We must admit he has improved his hard court game by several grades over the last months. Solid serve, powerful shots and great movement make him a complete player who can be dangerous on all surfaces. Of course, he will always play his best on clay for ever but he is now able to compete on hard courts as well. Also, he has a good record at this venue and we are looking forward to his performance. He should prevail in the long rallies from the baseline and he will definitely be much tougher opponent for Troicki than Kunitsyn was. Troicki is a typical hard court player and if he avoids making many unforced errors, he can be dangerous to everyone, especially on fast surfaces. But his qualities don’t justify his price today and we expect Monaco to take the advantage of slower court in Auckland. Having said this, Monaco should definitely be a favourite in our eyes and anything above 1.8 is worth taking for us.