Deke's Sports Ramblings

We've made it to June and I am officially done with work until late August.  Over the break I will be providing more and more insight into all sports with betting breakdowns and what wagers I'm on.  As always feel free to follow me on Twitter @DekeMathews and let me know what you think about the article. Matches 3 Alexander Zverev (-1600) vs.  29 Damir Dzumhur (+900)  (Dzumhur leads H2H 1-0) Dzumhur won only meeting at '17 Shenzhen Open (Hard Court) in straight sets.  Current form is a huge disparity in this matchup as Zverev is 27-7 this year, while Dzumhur is 10-14.  Zverev also in his young career has amassed a 70.67% win percentage on clay (53-22), while Dzumhur is 22-25.  The odds are reflected clearly on this and I don't see any value here. Prediction: Zverev 3-0 5 Grigor Dimitrov (-165) vs.  35 Fernando Verdasco (+135)  (H2H tied 2-2) Verdasco won earlier this year at the Indian Wells Masters (Hard Court) and the ...

We've had some entertaining matches so far to kick off the 2018 French Open.  I am going to highlight the matches I'm targeting on Thursday. Matches Rafael Nadal (-7500) vs. Guido Pella (+2000)  (Nadal leads H2H 1-0) Malek Jaziri (+400) vs. Richard Gasquet (-550) (Gasquet leads H2H 1-0) Denis Shapovalov (-250) vs. Maximilian Marterer (+200) (First Meeting) Ruben Bemelmans (+105) vs. Jurgen Zopp (-125) (Zopp leads H2H 2-1) Diego Schwartzman (-550) vs. Adam Pavlasek (+400) (First Meeting) Thomas Fabbiano (+800) vs. Borna Coric (-1400)  (First Meeting) Sergiy Stakhovsky (+150) vs. Mischa Zverev (-180)  (Zverev leads H2H 4-1) Pablo Cuevas (+125) vs. Kevin Anderson (-150)  (Anderson leads H2H 2-0) Marin Cilic (-1400) vs. Hubert Hurkacz (+800)  (First Meeting) Jan-Lennard Struff (+125) vs. Steve Johnson (-150)  (First Meeting) Fabio Fognini (-400) vs. Elias Ymer (+300)  (Fognini leads H2H 1-0) Marton Fucsovics (+225) v...

The draw for the 2018 French Open came out and we have some intriguing first round matchups.  I will have a quick stat breakdown for each matchup as well as the odds for each pairing.  As there are a ton of matchups, they will be brief but I will provide a prediction as well as my favorite bets overall.  So without further ado, lets jump into our French Open breakdown! Note: Rankings are from the 5/21 ATP update Section 1 1 Rafael Nadal (-10000) vs. 54 Alexander Dolgopolov (+2500) -Nadal leads H2H 7-2 (Nadal 3-0 on Clay, while Dolgopolov won on Grass in '15 and Hard in '14) -Nadal has won the last three matchups -Nadal is 17-1 on Clay this year and 21-2 Overall (He was 24-1 on Clay last year) -Nadal won the Rome Masters last time out -Dolgopolov is 0-2 on Clay this year and 5-5 Overall (He was 13-9 on Clay last year) -Dolgopolov has lost in straight sets on Clay his last two tournaments, losing to Novak Djokovic at the Rome Masters and...

We have some quarterfinal action as we continue tournament play in Lyon and Geneva.  Going forward with my articles, I will have the results from the previous day's action to kick off the article. Round of 16 Results Lyon Norrie (6-1, 6-4) over Marterer Lajovic (6-4, 7-5) over Horansky Taylor Fritz knocked off Jack Sock in straight sets Isner (7-6(3), 6-3) over Albot Fritz (7-6(6), 6-2) over Sock Kukushkin (6-2, 6-3) over  Coria  Simon (7-6(3), 6-2) over De Loore (Chung withdrew) Geneva Seppi (7-5, 6-3) over Zapata Miralles Sandgren (6-3, 6-2) over Basic Fucsovics (7-6(5), 6-4) over Tiafoe Fognini (6-7(5), 6-2, 6-2) over  Rubin  Wawrinka (6-3, 6-4) over Donaldson Round of 16 Matches being played 5/24 *Refer to my ATP Ace 5/23 for breakdowns Querrey - Pella (Bet on Querrey at +100 for 1u) Rosol - Johnson Lyon Quarters 5 Dominic Thiem (-700) vs. 70 Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (+475) -Thiem leads H2H 1-0 winning at the French Open in 2...

With the French Open coming up next week, it is important to take a look at current form and dive into the current week's ATP Tour events.  I will provide some predictions for the upcoming matches in the various ATP events. Note: Odds are from Bovada Lyon Round of 16 8 Jack Sock (-150) vs. 70 Taylor Fritz (+125) -Sock leads H2H 2-1 -Fritz won last meeting on Clay at the Houston Open Quarters 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 -Sock won other two meetings in majors, both going to 5 sets -Fritz defeated 76 Matthew Ebden 6-4, 6-2 in the Round of 32, while Sock had a bye -Sock is 2-3 on Clay this year with a season record of 5-9 -Fritz is 5-3 on Clay this year with a season record of 25-10 Prediction: Jack Sock 2-0 75 Dusan Lajovic (-750) vs. 314 Filip Horansky (+500) -First Meeting -Lajovic defeated 66 Horacio Zeballos 6-4, 6-2 in the Round of 32 -Horansky defeated 299 Roberto Quiroz 6-4, 6-2 and 1022 Antoine Cornut-Chauvinc 6-1, 6-3 in Qualifying.  He then defeated 57 J...

It's been a minute.  With the hectic schedule of the last couple months of teaching along with coaching a hockey team, I haven't had much spare time to write.  I am down to my last few weeks of the school year and will be pumping out more articles.  As always, I appreciate the read and hope you enjoy! The basis of this article will be a precursor to all of my in-depth breakdowns for the college football season.  All of my information is subject to change as I will be diving deeper into everything college football as we move into the summer months. Top 25 My Top 25 is only based on power rankings alone and does not take into consideration strength of schedule.   *National Champion Odds are as of 5/7 *Number in parenthesis is the strength of schedule rank based on total winning percentage of 2018 opponents 1. Clemson 5/1 (#61) 2. Alabama 7/4 (#54) 3. Georgia 7/1 (#63) 4. Ohio State 8/1 (#87) 5. Michigan 12/1 (#3) 6. Washington 20/1 (#98) ...