Analysis for Robredo-Lu (ATP Australian Open)

Head-to-head record 1:0

Probably not a surprising pick – we have already advised to bet against Robredo several times. Robredo's last season has not been as successful as the previous two. He has not put together more than two back-to-back victories since Beijing Olympics and his multiple losses to lower ranked players must have been disappointing for him. It is clear that Robredo is not at his best. He played two solid matches here in Melbourne but his opponents were lower-classed players and we are not convinced that he will get back to his previous level any time soon. Robredo considers his forehand to be his best shot and red clay is his favorite surface. He is a defensive baseline counterpuncher. He typically likes to stay back towards the baseline during a rally and will usually approach the net only to catch a short reply or drop shot from his opponent. At his best times, he played well on hard courts as well but we wouldn’t rate him among the world class hardcourters at the moment. His opponent Yen-Hsun Lu of Chinese Taipei will surely give him much harder time than his previous two opponents. Lu is a solid player who had a solid season last year. He participated at the Beijing Olympics with a first round match against Andy Murray, currently ranked world number four. Despite the difficulties of the match he shocked the audiences by defeating Murray in two straight sets to reach the second round. Lu continued his winning streak at the Olympics by defeating Agustin Calleri of Argentina to advance to the fourth round. He eventually lost to Jurgen Melzer of Austria in the third round. Several inconvincible results came then but he started the 2009 season in style and shocked the tennis world once again by beating David Nalbandian of Argentine in the second round. Robredo is a class lower than Nalbandian and if Lu manages to keep the level of his performance for today´s match, he can beat another big name here. Odds above 3.5 are surely rworth considering here.