Reigning Champion Berdych Faces Monfils In Rotterdam

Tomas Berdych and Gael Monfils have their fifth ever ATP career meeting this morning (10:00) in the quarter-finals of the Rotterdam Open. Reigning champion Berdych is the current 4/11 favourite with ladbrokes and Skybet to progress through to the final four whilst Monfils can be backed at 5/2 with sportingbet and Spreadex.

Czech Berdych beat Marin Cilic 6-4, 6-2 in last year`s final and is available at 5/1 with a number of bookmakers to defend his crown, the last person to do so being Robin Soderling back in 2010, 2011. boylesports and Skybet have Monfils down at 20/1 to capture the whole tournament.

It is the favourite for this match who has the superior record in the pair`s head-to-head clashes, Berdych winning out three times over the Frenchman`s one. Both hard court victories were also claimed by the world number seven.

The first time the two men met was back in 2008, Berdych winning in straight sets (6-3, 6-2) in Dubai, though they have met three times since 2012. The Czech player claimed the 2012 renewal of the Open Sud de France in Montpellier thanks to a 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 win in the final against Monfils. The now 29-year-old made it three victories from three meetings when only dropping two games (6-1, 6-1) against the 6`4" world number 21 in the second round of the Madrid Masters in the same year.

Monfils earned his sole success over the former Wimbledon finalist by knocking him out in Rolando Garros 2013. This match was fought out over a mammoth five sets and included three tie-breaks, it eventually finishing 7-6, 6-4, 6-7, 6-7, 7-5.

The occurrence of these three tie-breaks could make betting on another appearing in this morning`s match all the more tempting. bet365 have the best price on there being one in their encounter today, those odds being 11/10. Meanwhile, 4/5 with Skybet says that the match won`t involve a tie-break at any time. Similarly, betfair are offering 1/4 on there not being a tie-break in the first set (the same odds are available for betting on the second set), whilst Coral`s 3/1 says there will be one in the first set with the same odds again available on betting on the second.

Indeed, Berdych`s title challenger needed seven games to take the first set against seventh seed Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain before securing the second set with a tie-break, the match ending 7-5, 7-6 in Monfils` favour. In the first round, he saw off compatriot Edouard Roger-Vasselin in straight sets (6-3, 6-2).

A third successive straight sets victory for Monfils is available at 11/2 with boylesports whilst 888sport and unibet are offering odds of 15/16 on his opponent sealing the win without dropping a set.

Berdych managed to progress through to the second stage with a straight sets victory, that being 6-1, 7-5 over Germany`s Tobias Kamke, but needed three sets to put Andreas Seppi of Italy to the sword. Berdych won all six games in the first set before losing the second 6-3 and claiming the third by the same margin.

There are odds of 2/13 on the betfair Exchange on there being another 6-0 set victory in this morning`s match-up. Alternatively, 1/50 with the same bookmaking service says there will not be a 6-0 set.

In terms of handicaps, bet365 are providing their customers with a number of handicap game options. These range from Berdych starting on -3.5 games, something which has odds of 8/11, to Monfils starting the game on +4, with a price of evens attached.

Go To bet365

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13/02/2015     © Frixo 2026