RORY McILROY is today celebrating three wins in a row after his thrilling success in the US PGA Championship – and it's also three in a row for our golf tipster Ace Venturer.
He has predicted outright winners in the past three weeks with Rory landing two of them. I also tipped the Irishman to win the Bridgestone Invitational and the US PGA – during the Ohio tournament a week ago when he was 13-2 – and we both backed Rickie Fowler each way at 25-1 and he finished joint third.
So McIlroy is the gift that keeps on giving – a bit like Red Bull Salzburg whose 8-0 win yesterday made it 21 goals in their four Austrian league games.
The way McIlroy is playing – and last night's win was gutsy more than brilliant after at one point trailing by three – he's going to dominate the sport for the next few years.
He's always targeted the Majors and while it's a long way off at this moment you'd have to fancy him to break his Masters duck at Augusta. McIlroy is currently a biggest 13-2 with McBookie and BetVictor and you can bet on that price falling.
I'll take a bit of that and also 33-1 on Fowler each way. He finished top five in all of this season's Majors which is some achievement but there are no prizes for nearly men and he'll want to get a first win under his belt to shake off the tag no one wants as “best player never to win a Major”.
Tiger Woods is 12-1 second favourite for the Masters but he's a lay at the moment as he struggles with injury and form.
Put your own golf thoughts or tips on any other sports here.
In December 2020 we sadly 
Any Tennis tips today Ad?
As promised, here’s my tip summary for Sunday 3rd-Sunday 10th
(the difficult second week!)
In Play :
Abanda d Cibulkova @ 17/1 LOSE (but cashout/cover advised at 1 set all and 4/1 in play)
Watson d Cibulkova @ 9/4 WIN
O 9.5 games set 2 Jankovic v Vandeweghe @ 1/1 LOSE
Ante post:
Kvitova to win WTA Montreal @ 8/1 LOSE
Singles:
Rogers d Bouchard @ 16/5 WIN
Stephens win first set v Janokovic @ 11/10 WIN
Young to win first set v Dimitrov @ 3/1 WIN
Lopez d Berdych @ 2/1 WIN
Dimitrov d Anderson 2-1 @ 10/3 WIN
Lopez d Raonic @ 14/5 WIN
O.21.5 games Dimitrov v Anderson @ 1/2 WIN
Venus to win a set v Serena @ 5/4 WIN
Riske d Rybarikova @ 1/1 LOSE
Jovanovski d Navarro @ 2/1 LOSE
Puig d Storus @ 7/4 LOSE
Stryvoca d Radawanska @ 4/1 LOSE
Kyrgios win first set v Murray @ 21/10 LOSE
Lopez to win a set v Federer @ 13/8 LOSE
Federer 2-1 d Lopez @ 7/2 LOSE
Federer 2-1 d Tsonga @ 3/1 LOSE
Doubles:
Sock/ Vandeweghe @ 6/5 WIN
Makarova/Kerber @ 1/1 WIN
Murray/ Dimitrov @ 1/1 VOID/WIN
Serena 2-0/Djokovid 2-0 LOSE
Murray/Dimitrov @ 13/10 LOSE
Murray Makarova @ 5/4 LOSE
Trebles:
Watson/Bertens Rogers @3/1 LOSE
Hewitt/Paire/ Vinci @3/1 LOSE
Could certainly have been better, and didn’t see the healthy levels of profit the week before did, but not a disaster by any means. I probably suffered from too many bets. Will cut things down this week to very confident tips only and try and get the pendulum swinging to WIN.
Stosur to beat Lepchenko
Isner to beat Anderson
Double pays 1.9/1
Fairly happy with that
What do u think Ad – what r u on today?
Not sure ID. I can’t call either of those matches with confidence. Lepchenko has shown some form recently, has home advantage and Stosur has shown she is capable of absolutely shocking tennis. She should win, but I don’t trust her at all. I also think Anderson Isner is a coin toss. On current form I’d have to take Anderson but there’s a chance he’ll be suffering post traumatic stress from blowing the easiest put away of his career to beat Dimitrov and reach his first masters 1000 semi final last week. If he can put that behind him he can win this. Isner has been strangely disappointing on home soil so far this swing. I wish you luck, but dont want to touch either myself. I’m trying to keep it simple this week, but Watson got that plan off to a bad start. I should’ve listened more to my heart than my head with that one. On paper it was a gimme. Put the paper didn’t tell me just how appallingly she would play!
Daily Double:
Matosevic d Mahut
Watson d Zhang pays 10/11 ( a nice, simple start to the week)
Mahut is a shocking 2-6 on hardcourt this season and 12-19 for the season as a whole, and was trounced 6-3, 6-3 by the now 36 year old Michael Russell in his only match since the grass. I actually watched his final match of the grass season (his favourite surface) and he was very poor, losing to Sam Groth 6-4, 6-3.
Unlike Russell, Matosevic actually has weapons to hurt Mahut on a hard court, and it would be a huge surprise to see him fail to get past an opponent who’s clearly struggling right now. Matosevic madelight work of an in form Mannarino in qualifying so should be ready for this one.
Heather Watson is in fine form, and playing some of the best tennis of her career. After a fine win over Cibulkova in a run to the 3rd round in Montreal, where she fell to Azarenka, Watson has won two qualifying matches in impressive style in Cincinnati, 6-3, 6-4 over Pliskova and 6-3, 6-0 over Peer. After losing her first two post Wimbledon matches in close three setters to Filpkens and Mladenovic, Watson has won 6 of her last 7.
Zhang has only played twice since Wimbledon, but was beaten easily both times, 6-1, 6-2 by Vickery and 6-2, 6-4 by Vandeweghe. She has lost her last 5 matches in total and looks to be totally out of form, as she very often is outside of China.
For anyone feeling confident and looking for a bigger price, the 2-0 double pays just shy of 3-1.
Good Luck.
* more like 2.5/1
My thoughts on the best antepost bets this week:
Raonic @ 15/1
Cilic @ 50/1
While it’s difficult to see Raonic actually lifting the trophy, this looks one of the better priced bets. He is in great form, winning 7 of 8 hard court matches post Wimbledon and his 6th career ATP title. He is in the best quarter of the draw, with his toughest possible quarter final opponent being an out of form Berdych, whom Raonic holds a 2-1 head to head record over. His semi final opponent would almost certainly be a Murray or Federer. Murray could very well round into form this week having showed promise before a very disappointing exit at the hands of Tsonga in Toronto, but that’s far from a sure thing. Federer is in great form, but should he make the semis here fatigue is surely a possibility after a run to the final in Montreal. To conclude, while I would be a bit surprised if Raonic made the final, I do expect him to reach the Semis, and see some value in backing him now.
Cilic. Unlike Raonic, Cilic is in a difficult quarter. He opens with a red hot Lopez, followed by possible clashes with Verdasco, Wawrinka and Dimitrov, before taking on either Tsonga or Djokovic in the semis. That looks daunting, and is reflected in his huge price, but I do think there’s a decent chance Cilic could do well this week. He ran Montreal finalist Federer very close in his last match, and if he can build on that performance he will be a big threat to anyone. He took Wimbledon champion Djokovic to five sets in their quarter final, contested three tour finals at the start of the season, winning two of them, and won’t be scared of his run this week. Lopez could well be exhausted by now, Wawrinka has had some worrying dips in form this season and fell to Anderson last week, Dimitrov is beatable, as he proved when he took him down in straight sets earlier this season, and after that who knows. Its clearly a tough ask, but at 50/1 i think its a gamble worth taking that Cilic can hit form and run deep this week.
Watson is absolutely terrible…. Duno why we took her!
The curse of the tipster. Watson playing the worst she has in weeks and Zhang playing the best she has!
Still, Watson’s broken back in the second set and has a chance to turn things round here. Come on Heather. keep it off her backhand and you’ll be okay.
WTA Cincinnati:
Jankovic 75/1 (w Betfair exchange)
Kerber 30/1
Radwanska 14/1
Jankovic- odd as it would usually be to pick someone from the same quarter of the draw as Serena and Azarenka, I think it could be a smart move this week. Serena has played a huge ammount of tennis lately and with the US open looming it wouldn’t be surprising to see her withdraw before she plays or once the tournament’s begun. It’s a similar story with Azarenka, though her problems stem from injury rather than overplaying. After being brushed aside by Radawanska last week it wouldn’t be a surprise to see her exiting early, either via a defeat or a withdrawal. If these eventualities transpire, the draw will really open up for Jankovic, who looked bright at times last week but needs more match time under her belt to sharpen up. She beat Lisicki, Makarova, Stephens and Vinci on her way to the semi finals in Cincinatti before eventually falling to Azarenka, and if she can work her way back to somewhere near her best she has a chance of taking advantage of a potentially top half of the draw.
My reasoning for Kerber and Radwanaka is similar. They are in the second quarter and top half of the draw. Both have superior form to Jankovic and that is reflected in the shorter prices. Radwanska’s win in Montreal last week was as surprising as it was impressive, and if she carries that into this week she could spring another surprise. Whoever wins their projected quarter final meeting will be able to capitalise on a tired Serena/vulnerable Azarenka or a surprise package who’s made in through in their absence. I think one of these three will at least make the final.
Something that may also work in the favour of these three is that, judging by the Watson game at least, the courts in Cincinnati look to be playing very slowly.
Watson is mince! Just like all the British female players. Might get the odd win against a high ranked player but generally gets beat…. Just not good enough.
She was shocking today it has to be said. But she has played at a much higher level than that recently. I think she needs to work on her fitness because she didn’t look to have much in the tank from the off there. Zhang was so tight having not won a match for ages and if Watson had been playing at 70% of what she has been recently she would have had no problem today. Poor start to the week. Apologies from me.
Ernie, Im no expert on tennis but Watson is young and can only improve in time. Ad, I cannot find the Federer v Tsonga match on youtube, it just has 4 minute clips
I can’t find it either Dude. Not without subscribing to ESPN.
No need to apologise on recent form she should have won I avoided going with her due to as previously stated British tennis players are generally not good enough. I am on your other double pick along with Ajax Reserves looking fairly good at the moment ;)
I think I’m going to replace Kerber with Wozniaki @ 25/1 in my wta outright tips. Makarova is Kerbers likely first match of the week and is in v good form, and has split their previous encounters pretty much 50/50. Wozniaki on the other hand plays Rybarikova followed by Zhang and will surely have little trouble with either. And should she have to play Makarova she owns a 7-0 head to head lead and already has a title under her belt this hard court swing. Advantage Wozniaki.
I’m loath to trust Jerzy Janowicz to win matches he should win, but he looks like he has turned up today v Gabashvili.
Janowicz to win 2-0 is 12/5 and given the quality of his serve when he’s playing well that is a decent price.
Tomic or Simon?
I would go for Tomic if pushed. He’s finally hit something like good form on hard courts recently and must have more confident than he has for a long time. and Simon has struggled a bit all season. Tomic is not really mr reliable though!
Shane Lowry, Jimmy Walker, Marc Leismann and Thorbjorn Oleson are all players I will be watching closely in next years majors.
Some good money can be made on golf
Nice work on the double Iddy, easy in the end. Who you got today?
Thanks Ad – I also added Janowicz and Ajax from the footy tips for a 7-1 4 fold so was a decent day yesterday.
Like u said Anderson would be haunted by Toronto quarters and Stosur likes the US hard courts as her serve really kicks on the surface plus had beaten Lepchenko a couple times before.
Today’s card looks good – on first look I think Safarova and Youzny double might be interesting.
Ad – can u post your top 4 or 5 picks today and I’ll have a look as well and we will see if we can get a safeish double/treble that pays evens or above.
Right here are the matches I have picked out today from Cincinatti;
Men’s
CILIC v Lopez 4/9
POSPISIL V Stepanek 8/11
THIEM v Ginepri 4/9
PAIRE v Johnson 8/11
Women’s
Mchale v Gibbs 8/15
Azarenka v Zahlavova 2/7
LISICKI V Vinci 4/7
Off these my preferred double is Cilic/ lisicki at 1.3/1 or add Azarenka for 1.9/1 treble.
Today’s tennis singles:
Safarova d Venus Williams @ 1/1 (NAP)
I’m actually surprised Venus hasn’t withdrawn yet. She was fantastic last week until she ran out of steam in the final v Radwanska, and I think she could do with the extra week off before U.S open. Safarova made light work of Cirstea and Rybarikova and played very well against Serena but came up just short as she lost 7-5, 6-4. Fitness has been Venus’ biggest problem over the last few seasons and with only a day’s rest since Montreal I’d be very surprised to see her at 100% today.
Strycova d Azarenka @ 3/1 (NB)
This is a pick based more on Azarenka than her opponent. She has been struggling to successfully come back from injury for a long time, and was allegedly limping through most of her crushing 6-2 6-2 defeat against Radwanska last week, and indeed in her win the round before. When you’re not at 100 % Radwanska is the last person you want to race as she makes you play another shot every time, and the matchup with Strycova will be a better one for her. But Strycova has hit good form in the last few months and achieved a career high ranking of 30 in July, while Azarenka will be very conscious she is running out of time to find for before the US and that she is sliding down the rankings. She has a lot of points to defend this week having won this tournament last year, and the pressure really is on. Strycova will smell blood and be going all out to beat Azarenka while she’s down. While it’s obviously possible Azarenka can right the ship today and play well enough to get the win, I think there has to be a decent chance the problems continue for her against a capable opponent. It wouldn’t be at all surprising to see her retire part way through, and I will be on a bookmaker who pays out rather than voids in case that happens.
Genepri d Thiem @ 7-4.
Thiem is a fantastic young player and no doubt capable of hitting his way past Ginepri. But he has a long way to go before he can be considered a reliable hard court player and in the vastly experienced Ginepri on home soil he faces a tough test. Though he’s fallen away in large part due to injuries over the years, Ginepri was a top 20 player in his day, and recently has put in some encouraging performances on US hard courts. Thiem has played one and lost one on hard court since the clay court tournament he played in Austria at the start of the month, and if he’s not quite sharp he could be run very close here.
I also have an outsider treble of the following;
Youzhny v Tsonga 11/4
Safarova v V Williams 1/1
Wickmayer v Errani 2/1
Treble pays 22/1
Reasons for above picks are – Tsonga just won Toronto on Sunday and I expect he celebrated big so might be mentally fatigued after beating 4 of the top 10 on route and Youzhny is a good player who has beaten him before.
Williams looked out on her feet on Sundays women’s final in Montreal. Safarova is having a good year and more than capable of capitalizing on a tired Williams.
Errani is a clay court specialist. She is ok on the hard courts but can be bullied by big hitters which the 6’1 Wickmayer is.
NOTE – I haven’t placed any of the above bets yet as I will wait until I have had a chat with Ad on today’s plays.
Ginepri is a bit of a shot in the dark and I may ignore it if you think Thiem is going to walk this one?
I do think theres a good chance Azarenka will struggle so i’m definitely going to be going against her.
For shorter odds i like Tsonga and Benneteau at 2/7. Cilic should win as you say but i was put off by him being slightly too short for my liking against an in form Lopez. But I will take him in a double/treble.
I fancy Lisicki too but am always just a little wary of her against someone who gets the ball back as she is capable of drifting out of a match and beating herself at any moment. But she should have too much in the good form she’s been showing recently.
Cilic, Lisicki, Tsonga would be my preferred treble
i agree there is some risk with Tsonga because you never know what a player will carry over with them from a massive week like he’s just had. Youzhny is having a pretty awful season though and Tsonga will have too much game for him if he turns up in decent shape. Benneteau could be safer a safer bet at the same odds as Tsonga as there’s no danger he will be fatigued, and Rola got completely whitewashed by Paire in his last match and has a long way to go before he can really challenge good, experienced players, especially on hard court where he’s only ever played a handful of games, and pretty much 0 above challenger level.
I like your pick of Wickmayer and she looks a decent shout for a single.
If going down the treble I think Safarova may as well be in there. I’m as confident about her as i am about anyone else.
U r absolutely right about Azarenka – can’t go near her after the display against Radwanska. She was hobbling around and her knee was bandaged up, had completely forgot about that!
THIEM – I would expect him to win but do agree Ginepri plays his best in US hard courts. I just think Ginepri is semi retired and his best days are behind him.
I’m happy to go with Safarova instead of Cilic in a double with Lisicki. Think 4/7 is good odds for Lisicki even though she could sliced and diced apart by Vinci, I just expect her to have too much power
I’m thinking a double of Safarova/ Lusicki which pays 1.81.
Then a risky acca – Youzhny/ Wickmayer/ Cilic/ POSPISIL/ Hantuchova – pays 112/1 on 5 fold. Worth a £1 I think.
Forgot to mention 3-1 for Hantuchova v Makarova looks a bit overpriced?
It’s crazy that they’ve never played before. Could be an interesting match. It will all come down to Lisicki. It’s on her racket if she can put her game together.
I’ve backed cilic outright at 50/1 so i’m a bit reluctant to back him in a potentially tricky first round tie i’ll be happy if he comes through anyway. But i’ve put him in a threefold with lisicki and safarova and added Strycova and Wickmayer into some small fourfolds.
A decent sized single on Safarova and a slightly smaller one on Strycova will be my main bets for the day. Then a small one on Ginepri and those doubles and triples. I’m sticking with those three singles as my “TIPS” though, but anyone with doubts over Ginepri should consider Iddy’s suggestion of Wickmayer. If she clicks Errani might not have any answers. How she’s made a consistent top 10 player with that serve and absolutely no other weapons is incredible really! But I think her days are numbered. Too much young power coming through.
Good luck with your tips Ad – apart from Ginepri haha ☺️
:p thanks. Good luck.
re Hantuchova. Nothing to suggest she will turn around her fortunes here against a very in form Makarova. But fatigue is possible and I guess you never know. It wasn’t so long ago she was a decent player!
I have a few quid on Safarova following these tips ;)
A bit worried by how fresh Venus looks and how well she’s playing. A 50/50 first set till Safarova broke to serve for it at 6-5 but blew it. Then played a truly shocking tie break. A double fault and some really, really bad unforced errors. Hoping she can re-compose and start the second set well, and hoping Venus starts to show some signs of fatigue.
Cilic has won
And Safarova break up in set 3 for anyone who wants to cash that single out
Ad – Ginepri off to a good start with an early break
Azarenka has withdrawn by the way. Replaced by Barthel
Cheers guys! Took Cilic n Safarova double Ad! Almost in……
Hope i didnt speak too soon…. Ha
Lol in future be quiet Ernie lol
Did finally come in Ernie nice one cheers for the tips again today guys
Ad – if u have a single on Ginepri might want to cash out. He’s 6-3, 3-0 up. THIEM has been pathetic. Ginepri out hitting him.
Tsonga has lost set 1 by 6-1
There’s the hangover I was talking about haha
Yep well called Iddy. Glad i kept him out of my bets. I’m just waiting on a fourfold of Safarova, Cilic, Lisicki and Benneteau now. A pretty good day. Annoyed Azarenka didn’t retire after a set! If Wickmayer could have nicked that third set tie break it woulda been extra sweet.
Not been a bad day – none of the speculative bets landed but the main bet of Cilic/ Safarova/ lisicki came in at around 4/1 so pleased with that.
Good luck with Benny he’s a set down at the moment.
Ill try and post tomorrow’s comments around lunch as am busy in morning but let’s try get another double/ treble sorted.
Yeah i’ve given up on Benneteau, he should still win but he’s thrown away the lead too many times tonight. I covered Rola @ 7/1 when he went a break down so i’m done for the night.
A good day as you say. Of my 3 tips 2 were winners @ 1/1 and 7/4 and 1 was VOID.
Back with tips once all the odds are out.
Nice work today IDDY. Esp for warning me off Tsonga! Lisiciki and Cilic winning along with Safarova made it a good Tuesday.
Morning all. Who have you got today?
I’m definitely on Cilic to beat Verdasco @ 1/3. He’s looked solid and dangerous recently whereas verdasco isn’t reliable at all and hit an insane number of unforced errors in the last round as he limped over the line.
haven’t finalised who I’ll be adding to that yet as I won’t have time to fully study the other options till a little later.
But lisikci @ 8/15 d errani
Ferrer d kohlschreiber @ 4/9
Robredo d querrey @ 4/6
fognini d Hewitt @ 8/11 (always risky!)
I also think Janowicz can take a set off Dimtrov @ 1/1. Aside from too many double faults the rest of his game was excellent and if Dimitrov isn’t quite sharp he could have a close match on his hands here.
Tipping janowicz and fognini to both come up with a result is madness really. Interested to hear who you fancy today Iddy
Ad – what do u think of the following, I think it’s a safeish treble (apart from Lisicki!!!)
Youzhny v Seppi 1/2
Stephens v Zahlavova 4/9
Lisicki v Errani 8/15
I also favour the following
Bouchard v Kuznetsova 8/11
Kerber v Makarova 4/7
Monfils v Agut 5/6 (this might be a single at that price)
For an upset Ward at 2/1 over Benneteau who had a tough match yesterday.
Ad – I’m now posting on the new thread!!!!
After picking 5 losers in 2 days, I decided to take a break from baseball tipping, as I was on holiday for a couple of weeks.
I’ve placed 6 bets in the last two days and I’m 5/6 (I didn’t post on here though), so hopefully I’m back to form.
Pirates @ Tigers
Pirates @ 2.05
Pirates -1.5 @ 2.63
Tigers are giving Buck Farmer his debut tonight, only 2 weeks after him being promoted to double A.
Worley starts for the pirates and after a shaky start he’s regained his command. He’s 5-1 since the all star break and has been in fine form.
Pirates have won the last two 4-2 and 11-6, although they were the home team in these meetings.
ADVICE NEEDED PLEASE!
That’s my write up but if anyone has any info regarding this game I’d appreciate it. The prices seem too good to be true considering the two pitchers and the way the last two games have gone.