Tsonga looks like he has the field crushed and should take down the title.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga only has a couple titles on tour this year but at the Thailand Open the opportunity to take down a third is wide open. The only other player in the top 10 that is in the tournament's field is Gilles Simon and he does not have any titles on tour this year, nor has he made a final despite being very active. Down the ranks a little ways Sam Querrey and John Isner are both in the thick of things, but neither are on the same level as Tsonga.
Here are some of the best prices to win the hard court Thailand Open for the key players:
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga: +175 (7/4) Coral
Gilles Simon: +450 (9/2) Coral
Sam Querrey: +500 (5/1) Ladbrokes
John Isner: +700 (7/1) bet365
Head to head against Simon, Tsonga is 2-1 but he has won both matches that have been played on hard court.
Sam Querrey and Tsonga have never played one another and while Querrey has been surging toward the top 20 for a couple months now, Tsonga has had a much better season overall.
John Isner does present a legitimate threat to Tsonga as he, Isner, has been doing very well lately. He took out Andy Roddick at the US Open and actually has a recent victory over Tsonga on the hard courts of Washington.
While Isner might be worth a sprinkle at +700 (7/1) he shouldn't be counted on even though he has been doing well lately. He has no titles in 2009 and he is still coughing up losses to players like Carsten Ball, Mikhail Youzhny, and Jeremy Chardy. Isner is capable of beating Tsonga heads up but Tsonga is much more likely to survive the field.
Our recommendation is to pound Tsonga at +175 while gently sprinkling either Isner or Querrey.
Go to Coral, Ladbrokes, and/or bet365 to bet on ATP futures.