Update

Bets 82; Won 59; Lost 23
At Flat Stakes: Bet 82 units; Won 14.18 units; ROI 17.3%


A better evening with two hard-fought wins. There's quite a few early lines up (for a change) so it's possible to post earlier than normal.

Bovina's price shortened quite quickly yesterday so I'll put $1.71 in the record (as opposed to the early $1.78) to better reflect potential returns.


Cervanova v Craybas
Round 2: Estoril

I wrote about Cervanova on Tuesday so I won't repeat myself. Her relatively easy win over Parra-Sontanja bodes well for today because Parra-Sontanja is a far better clay player than Craybas. The American, in short, has a woeful 23/35 career clay record and has beaten few quality players on the surface. She beat 'no-name' Mihalache in the first round but no real surprises there as her opponent was a lowly-ranked Challenger player. Today will be a far tougher proposition as Craybas performed very poorly at Charleston and Amelia Island (green clay). Moreover, she failed to win a single WTA game on clay last season at 5 attempts. Of course upsets are always possible but I would be surprised - no shocked - if Craybas won today.

Cervanova $1.45 @ 5Dimes
(available at $1.50 at smaller books but these prices should come in)


Schydner v Vakulenko
Ronud 2: Warsaw

Schynder is at short odds today but not without reason. She has a solid 119/72 clay record which includes many wins over quality players and is coming off a solid performance at Charleston where she reached the semi-finals. Her opponent Vakualenko has done well to reach the second round. She beat the coming-back-from-injury Daniilidou in qualifying but despite what many people think, Daniilidou has a rather ordinary clay record. Vakulenko then went on to beat Chladkova and Chakvetadze but neither of these players are anywhere Schydner's class. That said, Vakualenko has the benefit of playing in the conditions while Schydner is first-up but I don't think this is an issue for someone of Patty's experience. One has to remember that Vakulenko is ranked 260 and has few, if any, big scalps to her name on the dirt. This is also only her second tournament for 2005 so she may by a little underdone.

Schydner $1.25 generally available.
(early line but prices should hold)