Australian Open Mens 3rd round - Tipsarevic v Gasquet

J Tipsarevic v Richard Gasquet - The Frenchman is the slight favourite here with the bookies and has easily made it through to the 3rd round, without any difficulties. He is trying to move his game on to the next level and back into the ATP top 10, where reached number 7 in 2007. He has reached the 4th round in Melbourne on a couple of occasions. He took out the talented Seppi in round 1 this year before Golubev retired injured whilst trailing in the 2nd. Tipsarevic has never been passed the 3rd round, however when you see the opponents he has faced over the years, you realise why. In 2006 he lost in 5 sets to Ferrero, 2007 he retired in the 5th set to Nalbandian, in 2008 he lost an epic with Federer 10-8 in the 5th, 2009 he lost to Cilic in 4 sets, 2010 was a 5 set loss to Tommy Haas and then last year yet another 5 setter to Fernando Verdasco. He loves hardcourts and has been one of the most consistent players on the ATP tour over the last 12 months, moving up to world number 9. This match looks like it could go the distance or at least the sets should be tight. Tipsarevic loves a 5 set slog. Therefore over 38.5 games @ 1.72 is an attractive punt. Gasquet is 2-0 H2H but they havent played for nearly 5 years and since then, Tipsarevic has become the higher ranked player. Although Janko has looked his best in his 4 set wins over Tursunov and Duckworth, i think he will step it up a gear in this match and out serve and out hit Gasquet. I think value lies in the games handicap but if i had to choose i would take the Serbian to move into round 4.