Morning thoughts. Some in depth Halep analysis, Vekic and some in-play trades

Well what can you say about my girl Simona Halep. Backed at the start of the Nurnberg tournament at 7/1 she comes through it with flying colours as well as amassing me a nice profit in play through the tournament. I said it months ago.....this girl is going places. She burst onto the junior scene but regressed for a number of reasons. Playing against the top players, issues surrounding her breasts that she felt were restrictive on her game, and perhaps a dip in confidence at the highest level saw her slip down the rankings. But seemingly with all these things sorted, she is surging up the table.

"I said it months ago....this girl is going places"

Here's the Halep resurgence -

The problem Simona had after the dip in form was that a crash in rankings means much tougher games at each event in the early rounds. It wasn't that she was playing badly, just that she kept getting sickening draws against a whole host of top ten players. Without having the full facts with me now, she literally bumped into brilliant players in a whole series of tournaments. It's the catch 22, to get up the rankings you need a break, and she wasn't getting any.

Look from the 4th May though. I reckon Simona must have said enough is enough after losing to Schiavone and then Dominguez Lino. The only blots on the copy book have been a finals loss to Williams (and who wins those) and a disappointing first round Roland Garros loss to the very tricky Carla Suarez Navarro in which she took the first set. The seedings were very disappointing, and Halep couldn't have had a worse draw than the feisty Argentina who is a true match player. Halep would no doubt have gone further than Navarro, but it wasn't to be.

But this week Simona has shown her world class. She really has the game to get into the top ten and compete for tournament finals. A super effort lately, from a very talented young woman. Her ground strokes are magnificent, she can go long in rallies or be aggressive. She is young and can go the distance and she is working on the mental toughness when being down in tricky situations. She won the first set 6-3 against Safarova and lost the second set 6-0 before again turning the match on its head. It's these situations that Halep seems to be working out with each and every match. She's definitely on my betting radar with each and every match now.

Another one to watch is Donna Vekic. She is 16 and is already a handful. Today she plays in the Aegon Classic Final against Hantuchova and at 2.26, I may have a look at that. Even better perhaps is to wait in play, and see if Hantuchova serves first to eek out a couple more ticks. This match starts at 1pm, really looking forward to it.

Elsewhere, Federer is in a final against Youzhny and Murray plays Cilic in another. The only recommendation here is an in-player if either goes a set down. Even then, you may be risking it for a biscuit. 

There will be plenty of in-play football trades I'm sure, and England will be playing New Zealand in the cricket in a must win game. Weather may again be a factor here, so I reckon it's best to stay clear of this unless there is a clear profit making opening.