The BNP Paribas Masters semi-finals take place this Saturday in Paris with the prospect of a new world no.1. Bookmakers Review breaks down the fixtures below and lists the best available odds from green listed bookmakers.
Cilic vs. Isner
Two remarkable servers – Marin Cilic and John Isner – will fight this Saturday for a place in the BNP Paribas Masters Final.
Playing on Indoor Hard Court clearly, suits Marin Cilic’s powerful tennis with the Croatian holding an outstanding 72.79% winning record on this surface. Cilic reaches this stage of the competition after an astonishing triumph over Novak Djokovic ending a 14 games losing streak against the Serbian.
After a very difficult season, John Isner showed up in Paris at a very high level. The fast and high bouncing conditions in Paris Bercy clearly suit John’s game style with the American holding a solid 11 – 5 record on this event since 2011. Isner was extremely pleased after his quarter-finals victory over Jack Sock, saying that it was definitely his best performance this year.
After six consecutive losses, Isner is still looking for his first career victory over Cilic. Due to Marin’s previous success against this opponent and extraordinary victory over Djokovic, the bookmakers consider him the main favourite for this match. Even though we agree with Marin’s favouritism, there is clear value on Isner’s odds at 58/25 at Marathonbet while Cilic is available at 2/5 at William Hill. With this in mind, John’s +1.5 Set Handicap at 4/5 at Pinnacle is without any doubts the best-betting approach for this contest.
Raonic vs. Murray
For the sixth time this year, Milos Raonic and Andy Murray will face each other, this time in the ATP Masters 1000 Paris semi-finals.
Andy Murray can make history this Saturday in Paris. If Andy wins his semi-final match he’ll become the oldest first-time no.1 since John Newcombe in June 1974. After his triumph over Tomas Berdych in the quarter-finals, Murray extended his winning streak to 18 matches, holding now an incredible 72 – 9 record in 2016.
Milos Raonic is the last obstacle between Murray and the no.1 spot. The Canadian is always a fearful opponent due to his exceptional serve, one of the best in the history of the game. Besides this, Milos also seems to find his best tennis in Paris with a terrific 7 – 1 record on his last two appearances.
Despite Murray’s 5 – 0 record in 2016 against Raonic, this should be a very close contest. The Canadian is never an easy opponent and with so much at stake for Andy, it’s impossible to find any value on his odds at 13/50 at Pinnacle while 5Dimes offers 13/4 for Raonic to reach the final. In a match where a third set should be required, the Over 2.5 Sets at 9/4 at Bet365 is a very interesting approach for this contest.
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