Gicquel vs. Gabashvili

Since long time I expect Gicquel to retire from ATP circuit but this thing seems is not going to happen soon . Although |Gicquel is 31 years old he proved many times he can still play at high level against younger opponents .  He still relies on his serve to make points and he is trying to play service volley game which works well enough on fast surfaces . This time he will play on slow surface , clay isn’t suited for him right now because he isn’t getting younger and running at 31 years is still harder than 21 years .

            Gabashvili is 23 years old and he is an average player , nothing to make him standing out from other players . Still he plays for some time in ATP circuit and he is improving . Last 2 years he is 2-12 on clay , which is quite bad record but this year he is clearly improving with 4 wins and 3 losses ( in major competitions , challengers not included here ) .

            To resume , Gicquel is set as favourite here by bookmakers given the fact that he is well know for public and heis better ranked ATP ( 52 Gicquel vs 102 Gabashvili ) but checking year to date stats we can see that these players are very equal and is nothing that can separate . H2H is 1-0 for Gicquel with a game played on hard surface ( Gicquel is better there ) last year  , 6-4 7-6 . I believe this time Gabashvili will take at least one set here and he will be able to cover +3 handicap games given to him .

My bet :

Gicquel – Gabashvili AH 0:3 away win @1.85 Pinnacle 7/10