Local favourite Bammer should end Greek's fun; TENNIS;Sports
Byline: Adrian Humphries
ATP SHANGHAI MASTERS Sky Sports 1, 7am THERE are some fascinating clashes in the women's tournament in Linz today, and it's just as well that Eurosport commence live coverage of the Generali Ladies at 1pm, writes Adrian Humphries.
Serena Williams, originally seeded top for the indoor event, is not there having cried off at the last minute, but ex-world No. 1 Ana Ivanovic has rediscovered the zest for tennis and the late wild-card draftee is proving a worthy replacement for the American.
Ivanovic is on collision course for a quarter-final clash with Wimbledon semi-finalist Petra Kvitova, but there are some intriguing clashes in the lower half of the draw as well.
Austrian wild-card Sybille Bammer takes on once-useful Eleni Daniilidou and Bammer is 8-13 to see off the Greek qualifier.
Daniilidou is 11-8 to prove her 6-2 6-4 first-round triumph over Dominika Cibulkova was no fluke. But while that was a superb result, she has flattered to deceive before and slight preference is for the local girl, who will receive plenty of crowd support.
Patty Schnyder's meeting with Klara Zakopalova will also be worth a look and the Czech, 6-4 to upset the seasoned Swiss, is believing in herself at long last.
Richard Gasquet probably has a slightly better chance of upsettingNovak Djokovic in the ATP Rolex Masters this morning than his odds of 7-2 suggest, but the Frenchman is going to have to work seriously hard to deny the in-form Serb.
Djokovic leads Gasquet 3-1 in career meetings, but the outsider stunned the world No. 2 6-4 6-2 in the 2007 Masters Cup in Shanghai.
Elsewhere, Andy Murray faces a much tougher task against 9-2 Jeremy Chardy than bookmakers believe.
Recommendations R Gasquet 1pt 7-2 Bet365 S Bammer 2pts 8-13 general K Zakopalova 1pt 6-4 general
CAPTION(S):
Sybille Bammer should have too much for qualifier Eleni Daniilidouin Linz today
