Expect Safin to advance past Thierry Ascione.

Former world number 1 Marat Safin, a noteworthy player in the last decade of tennis, will soon be retired from professional tennis.  Thierry Ascione, Safin's opponent in the first round of the BNP Paribas Masters, does not seem like the player that will end Safin's career.

Safin has delivered victories over top players like Fernando Gonzalez and Nikolay Davydenko in recent tournaments.  He, Safin, also made the semifinals of St. Petersburgh a couple weeks ago so coming into his first round match against Thierry Ascione, who is ranked 168th in the world, you have to wonder why Safin isn't considered a heavier favorite.

Here are the odds for each player to win their match:

Safin: -225 (4/9), bet365
Ascione: +175 (7/4), SportingBet

The price on Ascione should be longer than +175 as he is a player that spends most time playing in challengers, sometimes falling in qualifiers for those events.  In the last month and a bit Ascione has lost to the 276th ranked player in the world, the 127th ranked player in the world, and the 334th ranked player in the world.  Safin isn't top notch any longer but he is ranked 65th and Ascione hardly ever scores a victory over players ranked that high.

Pound Safin, who has put a lot of pride into the home stretch of his career, to top up your bankroll as he looks like he'll see another day.

Go to bet365 to bet on ATP tennis.