French Open - Berdych v Chardy

I've been stewing on this one all night, and decided after much deliberation, it's worth a bet.

Tomas Berdych has a 5-0 head-to-head advantage over Jeremy Chardy, and there is little to suggest that things will come out any different in this one, with clay unlikely to disrupt the pattern.

Berdych is ranked 20th in the world, while Chardy is a less impressive 86th.

Clay is not the favourite surface for Berdych, but neither is it the worst. Over the past five years, Berdych has won 60% of his matches against Top 100 opponents on clay, which isnt quite as good as his general 64% win rate across all surface, but it's close enough to avoid concern.

Chardy performs slightly better, seeing his win record rise from 46% against top 100 players to 49% when playing on clay, but it's not enough to suggest he can live with Berdych today.

Berdych hasn't won on clay yet this season, but having played Denis Shapalov, Richard Gasquet and Kei Nishikori has meant some testing opposition.

Chardy has had more success, but his schedule has seen him take in a number of more winnable matches - qualifying for the Monte Carlo Masters before losing in the first round, then reaching the semi-finals in Istanbul. He started as strong favourites in all the matches he won throug, so didn't prove much in all honesty.

Berdych should have this one covered and odds of 4/7 are more than fair in a two horse race.

2.2pts Berdych (-1.5 sets) to beat Chardy at 10/11 (General)

#Tennis