Zagreb Second Round

Draw
OOP
Livescores



Zagreb plays on a super-fast low bouncing indoor synthetic surface which normally favours the big servers.



Teimuraz Gabashvili (RUS)

vs.

Rik de Voest (RSA)

Previous meetings: Never played.

Gabashvili is a very hot and cold player, sure he has shown good form in the last 10 days with a good run in Rotterdam and a straight sets win yesterday, albeit against Florian Mayer who is having a torrid time anyway. But consistency remains a missing factor for him. He is a brutish power hitter who packs a punch but doesn’t do a lot of thinking on court and it goes without saying these are exactly the type of players who will struggle with consistency, on a good day they can blow most players off the court but on a bad one they will be an unforced error machine who pretty much beat themselves. Perhaps he has the potential to one day become a regular in the top 80 but right now he still has a lot of developing to do in terms of his game and especially his on-court tactics.

Rik De Voest is ranked 10 places behind Gaba and mainly plays in challengers, but he is a pretty useful player with top 100 aspirations and after an impressive straight sets win over an in-form Seppi yesterday should see this as a big chance to make his first ATP quarter-final. He possesses a decent serve and boasts an excellent 18-5 tiebreak record over the last 12 months, so, should one of the sets reach the almost inevitable lottery of the tiebreak, that confidence he has built up could give him the slight edge. At odds of 3.00 he represents good value against a player who isn’t the most reliable; Gaba has failed to back up big wins and good form many times, and this kind of match where he has the pressure of being expected to win has seen him falter in the past. I’m hoping today will be another of those occasions. Good luck.

De Voest to beat Gabashvili @ 3.00 (3 units to win 6 units) LOSS

Result: Gabashvili def. De Voest 7-5 6-1. Looks like Gabashvili had his head screwed on today, never mind it was worth a shot. You won't go bankrupt fading Gaba all season that's for sure.