Murray ready to march into a Monte Carlo semi-final with Nadal

The first major clay court tournament of the season hasn’t provided many upsets for punters this week, and favourite backers look set to prosper once more when the quarter-final betting gets underway.

The top four seeds all line up in the quarter-finals of the Monte Carlo Masters and they are all short favourites in the betting to progress into the semi-finals.

Andy Murray bs Frederico Gil

Surprisingly Andy Murray offers the best value today at 2/9 to beat qualifier Frederico Gil and after two consecutive straight sets victories, Murray seems to have his game back in shape.

Gil – 3/1 to win – has been in fine form in this tournament winning all three of his ties in straight sets, including a third round victory over Gael Monfils, but having lost to Gilles Simon in Marrakesh eight days ago the form suggests a 2-0 Murray win.

Murray defeated Simon 2-0 yesterday and while the manner of his victory upset a few Monacan’s, Murray’s ruthless streak was good to see and punters should take the 8/13 for the Scot to win 2-0.

Rafal Nadal vs Ivan Ljubicic

Nadal is relishing the return to the clay courts and at 1/80 to beat Ljubicic, the Spaniard looks certain to set-up a semi-final clash with either Murray or Gil.

Ljubicic upset Nadal in Indian Wells last year but has been destroyed by the Spaniard on the two occasions they’ve met on clay, and Nadal may not offer any value at 1/10 to win 2-0, but it will happen.

David Ferrer vs Viktor Troicki

Troicki snuck through his third round match with Tommy Robredo after the Spaniard retired hurt, but while Troicki is 5/1 to take advantage of his run of luck, Ferrer is the pick despite his Monte Carlo Masters odds of 1/9.

Ferrer won his only clay tournament start in Mexico at the end of February and is 4/11 to win 2-0.

Roger Federer vs Jurgen Melzer

Federer may arguably be the bet of the day despite his short Monte Carlo Masters odds of 1/8 to beat Melzer.

The German has never taken a set off Federer and while clay isn’t Federer’s favoured surface, he’s still brilliant on it and the Swiss can win easily and is 2/5 to win 2-0.

A £10 accumulator on all four top seeds winning 2-0 would return £33.90. New customers can sign up here to take advantage of a free tennis bet worth up to £30.