Betting tips / Ben Caudell / 23 January 2012 / Leave a comment Bet Now View Market

When a former world number one comes up against a pretender to the number one ranking, Ben Caudell is expecting a competitive encounter.

Four Reasons to Lay Petra Kvitova 2-0 @ [1.81] against Ana Ivanovic

•Former world number one Ana Ivanovic has undertaken a strict fitness regime in recent months that has seen her rise in the world rankings. It has improved her serve and consistency from the back of the court and that may in part be due to her new coach and fitness coach. This new found confidence has been in abundance this past week in Melbourne as the tennis pin-up is yet to drop a set in her opening three matches.

• Ana, the 2008 French Open Champion has won 80% of her last ten matches at Grand Slam level compiles credible stats against left-handers recording 71% of wins from her last fifty. The Serbian has also won four of her last six when opponent is a big server.

•Although Kvitova was ranked outside of the top 30 in 2008 and 2009, the years in which Ivanovic defeated the Belarusian, a 3-0 head-to-head series lead still provides a massive psychological advantage coming into today's match in favour of Ivanovic. With all three wins being played on hard (Brisbane 2009 - 6-4 6-2, Zurich 2008 - 6-1 6-4, Montreal 6-3 4-6 6-3) there is definitely value in laying Kvitova 2-0 @ [1.81] in the set betting market.

•Although Kvitova has won twenty one of her last twenty two matches, she is prone to the occasional lapse in concentration and has conceded sets in seven of her last fourteen matches. This includes a three set second round win at this year's Australian Open against Carla Suarez Navarro.

Four Reasons to back Kei Nishikori to defeat Jo Wilfried Tsonga @ [5.0] (Small Bet)

Kei Nishikori is one of my favourite players at the moment so my heart may be slightly ruling my head over today's match-up. But there are a few sound reasons why the Japanese superstar could upset all the odds to make it through to the quarter finals of a Grand Slam event for the first time in his fledging career.

•Firstly, the 22 year-old has defeated the Frenchman twice in the last three months and therefore leads the head-to-head series 2-0. Although their most recent match-up in the Kooyong exhibition event can possibly be discounted due to Tsonga suffering from jetlag and fatigue (which Kei won 1-6 6-4 6-1), the Japanese did triumph over a fully fit Tsonga in Shanghai in October of last year - 6-7 6-4 6-4.

•Nishikori seems to hold no fear when competing against the top players, having also defeated Novak Djokovic in Basel, Dolgopolov and Tsonga in Shanghai, and Nicolas Almagro in Kuala Lumpar. He holds a 50% match win record against top ten players since January 2011.

•Ranked 26 in the world and on the rise, Nishikori comes into this match having won five in a row in five set matches, five in a row on hard-courts and in Australia. Moreover, he has a great record against big servers, winning ten of his last eleven.

•With superior tournament stats on 1st serve %, 2nd serve points won, and total break points won, I'll be hoping that with the millions of Japanese fans tuning into watch their sporting hero, Kei puts in an a dogged performance and doesn't collapse under the weight of expectation.