Time for Federer to begin quest for first Paris Masters victory
Published:Roger Federer’s attempts for back-to-back indoor hard court tournament victories begins against Adrian Mannarino, but he certainly does not represent the best betting opportunity as the second round of the Paris Masters gets underway.
Federer triumphed in his home tournament in Basel last week, when defeating Kei Nishikori in the final, but now he arrives in Paris for an event that he has never previously won.
Having received a bye in the opening round because of his seeding, Federer begins his next attempt in round two and has won his only previous meeting with Mannarino in straight sets at Wimbledon earlier this year.
It is 1/33 that he beats the left-handed Frenchman again in front of his own fans, while he is equally short at 1/8 to progress in straight sets.
Better tennis betting options are available in other second round matches, including Nicolas Almagro’s clash with Andreas Seppi.
Despite being over 30 places higher than his opponent in the world rankings, Almagro is 11/10 to secure victory.
The Spaniard may not be most at home on indoor hard courts, but the fact a strong run in the tournament gives him an outside chance of reaching the ATP World Tour finals, gives him an added incentive to play well.
If Almagro is to qualify, he could do with Mardy Fish going out early in Paris and this could well happen as the American faces much-improved German Florian Mayer in the second round.
There are doubts as to whether Fish is fully recovered from a hamstring problem that caused his retirement in Basel, while the fact that the courts appeared to have been slowed down slightly in Paris will not help his cause.
Mayer is worth siding with at 11/10 to move into the third round.
