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more on the Volandri match

Here's what Tennisform had to say about the match yesterday.

24/10
2100 - Volandri hasn't played since retiring with a right forearm injury in the Palermo challenger earlier this month. Volandri's last match off the dirt was in this event 2 years ago, where he lost 6-4 6-4 to the Russian wild card Mikhail Elgin. It goes wthout saying that close attention should be paid to the market in his match against Gabashvili.

25/10

13:52 Gabashvili will have a 2-1 win over Volandri today if the set betting is to be believed. Nearly 60K has been matched on set betting on Betfair with plenty under 3.5 on the 2-1 option. The outright market has had plenty of interest too with the price on Gabashvili yo-yoing between 1.21 and 1.52.

18:52 Gabashvili advanced to the second round at the expense of Filippo Volandri, who didn't appear to have any intention of winning this match and acted out his part of the script well. Gabashvili was heavily supported throughout the one hour, 49 minute farce and despite playing some woeful tennis at times, the result was never in doubt. The Russian received medical attention for a knee complaint when he was trailing by a set and a break but still continued to trade below 1.20 on Betfair. Volandri threw in plenty of double-faults, errors and short balls, and even feigned interest from time to time. The Italian flexed his right wrist and sought medical attention for a forearm strain in the third set, though it looked to be a hollow gesture, and one that he will likely point to in the unlikely event that his efforts here get called into question. "It was like two different matches," said Gabashvili, who also has plenty of 'previous'. "The first one was awful and the second was normal. The reason for this was because I felt burned out before the start. But I really wanted to win my first first-round match here, especially as my opponent was not the strongest." (Forum extract) "Two fixers, in a fixer's tournament. Not much of a surprise, market was absolutely certain Gabashvili would win all the way, even when a set and a break down people were taking any odds possible. A more blatant fix than Tipsarevic last week." Gabashvili 3/6 6/3 6/2.

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