Going Oppo

I am a stunning 2-8 over the last four days. That is horrendous. I realize it’s partly because I’ve been betting with all the savvy of a kindergarten teacher, but I can’t help feeling that the betting gods are sitting atop their perch in a Vegas penthouse, lobbing thunderbolts at me as they laugh their asses off and exchange high-fives.

In a situation like this there’s only one thing to do. You have to go with the old George Costanza philosophy. Obviously every instinct I've had in this tournament has been wrong, so like George did in that famous episode, I'm going to do the exact opposite of whatever I think I should do. So here they are, my Day 10 Bizzaro Picks:

Agnieszka Radwanska (-110) to beat Daniela Hantuchova … How can a 29-seed be even-money with a the ninth-seeded player in the draw? Radwanska’s straight-sets victory over Kuznetsova was impressive, but Kuz didn’t really look like herself. If I were Hantuchova, I’d feel a little disrespected by these odds, especially against an 18-year old kid with one career title to her name. In my opinion, Hantuchova is the play here, so that’s exactly why I’m going with Radwanska. See the logic here?

Venus Williams (-180) to beat Ana Ivonovic … This is really hard for me to do. I love Ivo here because she is one of those young players who has limitless potential as she matures and trains. Venus has looked shaky through the whole tournament. Even though she hasn’t lost a set, she has had some close ones against some players who aren’t fit to tie her shoelaces. Costanza rules say for these reasons, I bet on Venus.

David Ferrer (+200) to beat Novak Djokovic … Simply put, Djokovic is my pick to win this tournament. He’s a funny kind of player. Doesn’t seem to be incredibly strong in any one aspect of his game but his patience is his biggest asset. He seems to go to a tie-break in every set he plays and he always wins them. It’s uncanny. Ferrer plays a bit the same way, but the Joker has had better results in Slams. So do yourself a favor and go with the underdog.