| Roger Federer's French Open odds have been
slashed from 7/1 to 9/4 with Victor
Chandler after the Swiss ace ended Guillermo Coria's
magnificent run of 31 clay court victories in the Hamburg Masters
final.
Federer, who has been subjected to first round exits at Roland
Garros for the past two years, is now the Paris major's outright
favourite with Coria's odds drifting out to 10/3.
"It's now just a matter of waiting to see how the draw
pans out as to whether these prices will rise or fall,"
said the firm's tennis man Paul Moody.
"Coria had built up an air of invincibility on clay and
now that has been shattered it will be interesting to see how
that effects things come Paris next week."
The win capped a superb French Open warm up for the 23-year-old
Federer who also saw off accomplished clay courters Gaston Gaudio,
Fernando Gonzalez and Carlos Moya in Hamburg.
Moody added that Moya remained the main threat to the top two
in the betting but said he believed injury troubled Juan Carlos
Ferrero's chances of defending his title look increasingly slim.
"Moya's general form this year has been outstanding and
I see him as a big danger to both Federer and Coria in Paris
but it's getting increasingly hard to fancy Ferrero for the
event given his lack of match preparation."
7/1 Ferrero hasn't been sighted on tour since a first round
defeat to Alex Corretja in the Monte Carlo Masters.
Selected outrights:
R. Federer 9/4, G. Coria 10/3, J C. Ferrero 7/1, C. Moya 7/1,
M.Safin 14/1, D. Nalbandian 14/1, A. Agassi 33/1, F. Gonzalez
33/1, L. Hewitt 33/1, T. Robredo 40/1, A. Costa 40/1, A. Roddick
40/1, F. Verdasco 50/1, G. Gaudio 50/1, G. Kuerten 50/1, G.
Canas 66/1, M. Verkerk 66/1, J. Chela 66/1, M. Zabaleta 66/1,
N. Davydenko 66/1. |