French Open 2015 Day 2

A disappointing start yesterday, with what should have been a 1-1 split turning into a 0-1 result and a refund after Mikhail Youzhny retired down 2-6 1-6 when we had Dzumhur +3.5 games.

Onto tonight and a big value play in my eyes, assuming he has turned up ready to fire.

At present, the only times I would go anywhere near backing Donald Young is at Grand Slam level, in Davis Cup or on US soil. Obviously we hit criteria number 1 with Roland Garros being the current tournament.

If Donald Young brings his A game, I cannot refuse the $4.45 on offer today to beat Santiago Giraldo, who has not exactly set the house on fire of late. If you track the lead-up form of Young, it certainly replicates last year, where he went on to beat Dudi Sela in 4 sets and then demolish Feliciano Lopez in straight sets, before falling to Garcia-Lopez 6-4 in the 5th set, after breaking GGL to stay in the match late in the 4th set.

I am happy to take the $4.35 for Young to win here at Crownbet, where they refund if your player retires. It should be noted that Young did retire 3 weeks ago in a match against Grigor Dimitrov.

Although Giraldo did make a Semi Final last week, it should be noted the field was quite weak, and to be honest I rarely take the week before a Grand Slam into consideration in terms of form, as you never know what the true goal is for a player so close to a Grand Slam. Prior to this, losses to Fognini, Donati (Yep, Donati!!), Nishikori, Sock and Schwartzman resulted in a disappointing clay season for Santiago.

Long story short, Donald Young is value tonight. I rate him a $2.70 chance, and therefore am very happy to take the $4.35 on offer. I think Young either wins, or gets blown out in a horrendous performance. I’m leaning towards the former.

3 unit BEST VALUE bet

Donald Young to defeat Santiago Giraldo at $4.45 at Crownbet ($4.35 at William Hill)