Analysis for Gasquet-Simon (ATP Sydney)

Head-to-head record 3:0

Two Frenchies will battle for the third round spot in Sydney today. It is no secret that Gilles Simon is not our favourite player and Richard Gasquet is much better player in our eyes. He is one of the biggest talents of the world of tennis but has never fulfilled his potential. He is praised for his powerful and precise one-handed backhand and for his flair and shot-making ability. As we said, he has earned much praise for his "natural talent." But he often has difficulties when playing against claycourters as he lacks speed and doesn´t like to play the long rallies. His recent results were pretty poor but he still must be a huge favourite against his fellow countryman. Gasquest is 3-0 up in their meetings so far and all of these matches were absolutely clear. We must admit that Gilles Simon has improved immeasurably in 2008 but it looks he is currently far from his best from the end of the last year. Simon struggled during the Hopman Cup and has no match under the belt in Sydney. Gasquet, on the other hand, looked good against Tursunov yesterday and we think he will confirm his qualities today. Odds above 1.7 are good enough for us.