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Granted, Begu reached his best ranking here and recorded a great win over Kerber yesterday. But that matchup in these conditions did not suit her opponent and Begu knew how to take advantage of that. I've been following Azarenka since the start of the season and she clearly made progress. What strikes me most is the fact she still has room for improvement. The match against Hradecka is not relevant. Azarenka has been preparing for a different game style, lost a set and later talked about vertigo. But the third set against Hradecka and the match against Wozniacki show which direction Azarenka is going. Her toughness in these conditions, consistency, the ability to build points and aggression are a perfect combination. She also wants to improve her form ahead of Roland Garros and she will play an important role there. Begu has nothing to surprise her with. Azarenka proved against Serena last week how she does when faced with aggressive opponents and her match against Wozniacki proved she does well agaisnt opponents with good technical skills as well. Begu is good on clay, I'm not denying that but Azarenka is at least two levels above right now. Details

The first h2h of the season was played in Tunisia (the Supercup) and PSG won by 11 goals. Dunkerque were without a few important players back then and you can just forget about that match. They played twice in CL and once in the French championship since. Paris won by 2 and 1 goal and Dunkerque won the league match by 1 goal. All three games were close, Dunkerque recently had a good shot in CL and they were not lagging behind much. That is why I do not understand why the handicap is this high. PSG are struggling to win the title, Dunkerque are trying to qualify for CL. Even if they weren't, the French teams always do their best because no one like PSG in that league. Dunkerque are tough in character just like Cesson. They fight hard, they're tough and base everything on defense. That is why Paris are having massive problems with them and I'm sure things won't win easily today either. Without Accambray, their game relies on Hansen and Narciss, while the others are nothing more than bystanders. They beat Montpellier last week convincingly but Montpellier struggle a lot as the 32 goals they conceded despite Siffert's 20 saves suggest. Dunkerque will enforce a very different rhythm and things will be different today compared to that derby match. Details

Russia passing through seems like a good option considering everything. It's hard to have an attitude about a team based only on their results in the groups because there are teams that are nowhere near as good as these two. You could say these two spent maybe half their energy to get to the quarterfinal. Nobody was perfect, but this is where the real tournament begins. The Russians stayed in Ostrava, the Swedes switched Ostrava for Prague and only did two practices on this ice, which is definitely a handicap. On the other hand, the Russians are stronger and more experienced in general. Many hockey lovers, me first of all, would be thrilled if the Swedes played with the best they've got here, but that's not the case, and this team are nowhere near to what the Swedes could skate out with. The Sedin brothers aren't here, Karlsson as one of the best backs, Lundqvist as the best goalie, so this team depend on the defenseman Ekman-Larsson too much. The Russians are the current world champions, and are playing here with a lineup similar to the one last year. Sure, Ovechkin isn't here, but there's Tarasenko, and he's had a great season with 70+ points in the NHL, there's Malkin who's also had a great season at 70 points, the great goalie Bobrovsky, the whole series of players from the SKA, lead by the great Kovalchuk, and the strength the Russians have is just bigger than what the Swedes have, and it's more than enough for the Russians to pass through with. These teams faced each other in the semifinal last year, and Russia celebrated. They're lead by Oleg Znarok, one of the best hockey coaches in the world, and after two friendly matches against Sweden before the tournament, with the class and experience his team have, I don't think he can be stopped here. Details

At the beginning of a tournament for the placement to the junior WC, Russia and Slovenia are facing each other. Only the first will go directly to the WC. These two teams know each other very well, they faced each other at the EC last year. Russia won 3-1 (23-25, 25-22, 25-23 and 25-20), so it was a big fight. That's 188 points, and the margin is much lower today. Russia are too favored, in my opinion, definitely because they're playing at home. This generation of the Slovenian team is the best they've ever had, they took silver last year, in an intense final of five sets where Serbia won. The Russians were seventh there. A year before that, cadet category, Slovenia were the sixth, Russia the eighth. That only confirms these two teams are equally good. Slovenia will have the same lineup as in the last year's EC, they got ready well and came to Anapa ready. The same goes for Russia who want to get to the WC on a tournament they're hosting. That will put a certain pressure on them, and compared to the last year's EC, they'll be without the important block Žurbenko. I definitely don't see this match in three sets, and four normal ones, with about 25-20, will take this match to an over. This bet is widely available, and that's why the medium stake is recommended. Details

Daria spent a lot of time on the court since the start of the tournament and she will definitely feel consequences of it, especially now that she's meeting an opponent who is very fit. The first few rounds were not really surprising but Bencic and Ivanovic beat themselves, while Daria just didn't make too many mistakes and didn't let go. Ivanovic failed in tactics which resulted in many unforced errors and Daria managed to successfully avoid her forehand. On the other hand, Timea beat two hard hitters to display endurance, both physically and mentally. Since she's currently in better form and is not as nearly as traumatized by the time she spent on the court, she should win convincingly by 6 or more games. Details