May as well put them on here rather than the tennis forum.
Top Benelux Player
7.5 units Robin Haase @ $3.60
Haase burst onto the scene a few years ago. He suffered a knee injury which kept him out of action for 18 months. I've been following him closely and was impressed when he first came onto the scene. He was ranked 673 in the world late 2009. By the end of 2010 he was ranked 65th.
De Bakker is the only challenger. One of these two will finish as the top Benelux player. If Haase can stay injury free, he could very well force himself into the top 20. He only needs to defend challenger points but now he is 65, he can make the main draw of nearly every major tournament so he should be able to defend those points with ease. De Bakker has to defend ATP tournament points. Not an easy thing to do hence why I am backing Haase.
Top Swedish Player (Without Soderling)
4 units Joachin Johansson @ $7.50
Johansson has had an injury plagued 3-4 years. He is looking like he is over those injuries. Similar to Haase, he will come back in the Challenger series and if on form, he should find it no worries moving up ranking places - providing he stays injury free.
Lindahl is the best ranked Swede behind Soderling at 240, then Lindell at 384 and Ryderstedt at 337 and Prpic at 310. Forget the rest.
Johansson is ranked 880. He is much better than his countrymen and if he can stay injury free, he should be the second ranked Swedish player by the end of 2011. Value bet. If you can afford to lose some money, then back him. The odds are worth it.
Top U21 Player
6.5 units Richard Berankis @ $3
This will be a tight match between Grigor Dimitrov and Richard Berankis. Both players are junior world number 1's. Both players have won junior grand slams. Berankis is ranked 87 and Dimitrov is ranked 106. This can go either way but I give the edge to Berankis. Not only is his ranking higher, but based on what I saw in 2010, he is the better player.
Top Australian Player (Without Hewitt)
10 units Marinko Matosevic @ $4.20
Luczak 137
Matosevic 138
Ball 153
Ebden 196
Millman 204
Tomic 208
Klein 215
Jones 261
Guccione 376
Luczak is getting on with age and I don't rate the guy. Ball is hit and miss, Ebden could be anything and Tomic could be anything. I rate Matosevic higher than Ebden and Ball. Tomic is still too raw for my liking, though it wouldn't surprise me if he improves big time next year but still think it's far too early for him.
Matosevic is a good player. He is feisty and is talented. He has a wildcard into the Australian open with Luczak. With the right draw Matosevic could win his first round match. Ball, Ebden and Tomic need to go through the qualifiers and are not guaranteed starters.
Matosevic also doesn't have too many points to defend early in the year. If he gets off to a flying start in challengers and other tournaments, he could find himself ranked in the top 100. Put it this way, I rate this guy higher than the other Aussies. Tomic will turn out much better, but it's still too early for Tomic.
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