ATP Tennis Betting - All-French Affairs on Friday

All-French Affairs as Tsonga, Simon, Clement and Benneteau aim to land Lyon semis

Lyon, France – Top seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and second seed Gilles Simon lead the charge in their respective sections of the draw and both will be looking to land a spot in the Lyon semis. However, standing in their way are compatriots Arnaud Clement and Julien Benneteau, respectively.

Though all four players are French and they will be playing before a French crowd, surely, support will be firmly behind Tsonga and Simon in Friday’s all-French quarterfinals. Both, seeded No.1 and No.2 as they are in the tournament, are the de facto favourites in the market not to mention fan favourites. The French crowd will want to see them around a little longer if not up to the Sunday finale.

Tennis Betting Line: Gilles Simon vs. Julien Benneteau

Match Time: 12:00 PM eastern time Friday October 30, 2009

Tennis Betting Verdict: Simon has had a lopsided season but finally managed to find his footing when he won the title in Bangkok, beating Viktor Troicki in the final. Because Simon’s title victory came late in the season and he failed to defend his points from the summer hard court swing, he couldn’t avoid the inevitable slight slip in the rankings, falling out of the top 10 to No.12.

Overall, Simon is 39-26 on the season. He is flush off a quarterfinal finish at the Shanghai Masters wherein he lost to Novak Djokovic 3-6, 6-2, 2-6.

Simon is on track to finishing on a positive note in these last few weeks of the season. He arrives in Lyon with a rolling positive trend in form and looks poised to continue that good run of form at the expense of Julien Benneteau. Not only does Simon have good form going his way but also he has an ongoing positive trend against Benneteau owning their last two encounters.

Tennis Free Picks: Simon in straight sets

Tennis Betting Line: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs. Arnaud Clement

Match Time: 1:00 PM Eastern Time Friday October 30, 2009

Tennis Betting Verdict: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga has to be the prohibitive favourite in this matchup and the untouchable crowd favourite. Tsonga is 49-17 on the season with three titles. He is gunning for his fourth title on the year and a spot in the London finals. It will be the first-ever meeting between Tsonga and Clement when they collide in Friday’s marquee quarterfinal match but the outcome is an almost certainty – at least in the minds of many. One would be hard pressed to find anybody willing to back No.119 Clement against Tsonga right now.

Tennis Free Picks: Tsonga in straight sets