Tennis Nightmare

To take an excerpt from a recent post – ‘….this only requires a £35.00 profit per day, based on betting on 28 days each month. With a disciplined approach, I should have no problem achieving this’.

This statement summarised my aims for upcoming months, and emphasised the need for discipline. It assumed that I was capable of using my knowledge of tennis and soccer to select appropriate bets, and that I needed consistency and concentration to ensure that I minimised losses and avoided greed. Throughout the last couple of years, all that has stood between me and a substantial regular profit has been indiscipline.

What I should have added was – ‘if I avoid placing bets on tennis players who immediately capitulate to disastrous defeats against low-ranking journeymen’. I’m having a horrible time with tennis at the moment. I was really looking forward to the American hardcourt season, and I can’t believe how badly it’s gone. I can be the most disciplined gambler alive, but I'll still lose if I keep picking the wrong bets.

Tonight’s selection was the Russian, Igor Kunitsyn, the favourite to beat the 487-ranked local wildcard in Montreal, 33 year-old Frederic Niemayer. My last post noted how I traded out too early. As Kunitsyn went 5-3 up in the first set, I decided to leave my bet open rather than greening up. It went to 5-5. Bah. At 5-5 40-0 to Niemayer, the Canadian collapsed with a knee injury, requiring courtside attendance from the trainer. So at 6-5, I remained relaxed. Only a couple of minutes later, Niemayer was steaming towards a 7-5, 6-1 win. It’s tough to minimise losses in those situations. I followed up by cancelling out my bet on Jeremy Chardy (the eventual winner) as events turned against him, my confidence shot.

So here’s a new angle – soccer wins subsidising tennis losses. The opposite has been much more common. Glad I’m such an expert on German 2nd division football. Ha.

Kim Clijsters is due to play her comeback match in Cincinatti shortly, after a two and a half year break. Marion Bartoli is logically cracking value at 1.65, particularly off the back of her win in Stanford, where she beat Jankovic, Stosur and Venus. But with my current run of form, I’ll choose to be in bed soon, bank safely tucked away.