Almagro Too Big in Hamburg
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RECOMMENDED BETS
3pts Nicolas Almagro to win the bet-at-home Open at 13/2 (Sky Bet, BetVictor).
0.5pt e.w. Igor Andreev in Credit Agricole Swiss Open at 50/1 (Betfred, totesport, BetVictor).
1pt e.w. Grigor Dimitrov in Credit Agricole Swiss Open at 14/1 (BetVictor).
1pt e.w. Ryan Harrison in BB&T Atlanta Open at 16/1 (Betfred).
We're suprised to see Nicolas Almagro up at 13/2 for this week's top tournament on the ATP World Tour in Hamburg.
The bet-at-home Open has 500 ranking points up for grabs and we feel the Spaniard deserves to be favourite given his exploits on the red dirt this season.
Yet that's not the case so we're looking to make the layers pay.
Almagro loses out on favouritism to Queen's Club champion Marin Cilic, but it's hard to see why.
Almagro has been racking up the claycourt victories this season and he's already won titles in Sao Paulo and Nice this season.
In addition to that he crusied through to the last eight at Roland Garros without dropping a set, only coming unstuck at the hands of eventual champion Rafael Nadal, hardly a disgace.
And only on Sunday he finished runner-up at the Swedish Open - a defeat to his nemesis David Ferrer (who won't be in Hamburg) was far from unexpected - so there seems little reason to think the grasscourt campaign has disrupted his form.
Almagro also has course form, reaching the final here 12 months ago, losing to Gilles Simon.
The Frenchman is back in opposition this year, part of what is admittedly a strong field.
As well as Cilic and Simon, home hopes Florian Mayer and Philipp Kohlschreiber hold decent claims but we still can't see anyone as strong as Almagro on this surface.
The price simply has to be snapped up. He's 4/1 elsewhere.
There's also claycourt action in Gstaad where the Swiss Open takes place.
With fewer points (250) on offer here, it's no surprise to see a weaker field has gathered.
Yes, top-10 star Janko Tipsarevic, a finalist in Stuttgart at time of writing, is in attendance, while the home challenge should be strongly represented by Stanislas Wawrinka.
However, with neither a stand-out selection, this looks a good tournament in which to pick a value outsider and the men we've plumped for are Igor Andreev and Grigor Dimitrov.
Andreev has a fine record in Gstaad, twice reaching the final and also making two other last-four apperances.
While the Russian has slipped down the rankings in recent years, he's shown this season that he can still be a force to be reckoned with on clay.
Andreev made the last eight in Buenos Aires, where he beat Fernando Verdasco, and the semis in Casablanca, where Albert Monanes was among his victims.
Given his best results in 2012 have been on this surface and this is a venue he loves, the 50/1 chalked up makes some each-way appeal.
In the weaker bottom half of the draw, the in-form Dimitrov looks worth siding with.
The Bulgarian impressed at Queen's Club, reaching the semi-finals. An injury hit his Wimbledon hopes but he showed he's over that by making the semi-finals in Sweden last week.
This section of the draw is not the best and the Bulgarian, who sadly picked up the nickname 'Baby Federer', could well be the class in it.
His form suggests he is beginning to live up to those high expectations and he looks a touch of value at 14/1.
The third and final tournament taking place this week is on the other side of the Atlantic with the countdown to the US Open beginning with a hardcourt event in Atlanta.
Now in its third year, the tournament has only been won so far by Mardy Fish. He's seeking a hat-trick this year but given his heart problems, and his very recent return to action, he is worth opposing here.
John Isner will be the man many back instead. He's been runner-up to Fish on both occasions so far. However, he must adjust from the grasscourts and considerably cooler conditions of Rhode Island to what's on offer in Georgia and, at 3/1, he's too short for us.
Instead we feel another American, Ryan Harrison, could be a value pick at 16s.
In Fish's half of the draw, the youngster will surely reach his maiden ATP final soon.
He's climbed to a career-high of 48 of the ranking list and will likely go higher on Monday after a run to the semis in Newport.
That topped off an impressive grasscourt season - he also made the semis at Eastbourne - but the hardcourts are more his natural domain.
He reached the last four in San Jose on hard earlier this season and also made the semis at this tournament 12 months ago.
Yes, he also must adapt from the grass but not only will he have had more time to do so, his game is also likely to be better suited to hardcourts.
Given Harrison is more than five times the price of Isner, it's to him we'll turn.
