Federer vs. Monfils

Oooooh, this is so tempting. My palm is itching to lay some ducats down on Gael Monfils at +400. He's pure silk on the clay, he moves better that any player on tour, and he's in his own hometown playing in front of the partisan Parisiens. Not to mention he beat Fed in their last meeting (last year's Paris Masters).

But this is Roger Federer. This is Roger Federer flying as far under the radar as you'll ever find him at a Grand Slam. All eyes are on Rafa and Djokovic, leaving Fed to ply his trade without all the pressure he's faced in the past.

Some say Roger is on the decline at age 29. He's slipped to No. 3 in the world, he's already dropped some clay-court matches this year to some questionable opponents (Meltzer? Gasquet?). The Maestro has been in fine form since arriving in Paris this year, but I have to think the price in this one favors Monfils. If you remove the names, you have No. 3 in the world vs. No. 9. If you look at it that way, +400 for Monfils is pretty tempting indeed...