Indian Wells Tennis Betting – Baltacha eyes main draw

Britain’s Premier Tennis player on the Women’s circuit, Elena Baltacha, who is enjoying a fine year so far, came through a tough first qualifying match for the BNP Paribas Open in California. The tournament at Indian Wells Tennis Gardens, which is in a stunning location in the Southern Californian desert, is one of the tournaments which the majoirty of the World Stars turn out for. This is WTA Tour Premier event, which the best in the world participate in, regarded in standing as just behind the prestige of a Grand Slam event. The main draw, for both the men and women’s competitions will consist of 64 players, after qualification matches has whittled the draws down from 96. Elena Baltacha has to qualify for the main draw, and after a successful year so far, will be hoping to build upon her form.

Elena Baltacha to win: 1/2 at SkyBet
Ekaterina Bychkova: 7/4 at Paddy Power

Other British interest comes from Anne Keothavong, who is already in First Round of the Main draw:
Anna Chakvetadze to win: 8/1 5 at ExtraBet
Anne Keothavong to win: 9/5 at Boylesports

It took Baltacha three sets to get past American wildcard Julia Boserup, but winning is all that matters, and now she faces a one match shoot off to earn her place in the main draw. Ranked 65th in the World, Baltacha, forever smiling and looking as if she is having fun, put in some impressive performances at the Australian Open, and queen of tennis Maria Sharapova denied her a genuine title shot in Memphis recently. She now has to square off against Ekaterina Bychkova to reach the main draw. With the main draw itself having already been made, there is one stand out portion of the draw, which is going to draw a lot of fans and betting interest. The Indian Wells tennis tournament, appears to be all about Vera Zvonareva and Ana Ivanovic.

Russian Zvonareva has picked up a tour title already this year, winning in Thailand. It was she who beat Ivanovic in the final at Indian Wells last year, taking the crown from the defending champion. Now Ivanovic, who’s best performance this season came in reaching the semi finals in Brisbane, has a lot of work to do, with Zvonareva probably being the better of the two at the moment. The young Serbian, who made headlines recently with her Swimsuit Illustrated shoot, has not done much since to suggest that she can make an impact at the event. Yes, you guessed it, these two are on a collision course again this year, but it won’t be in the final, it will be in the third round, if everything goes to plan.

In the same half of the draw, is the likes of feisty favourite Victoria Azarenka, Daniela Hantuchova (who has won at Indian Wells twice before, and just lost the final in Monterrey, so is in good form) and the always dangerous Yanina Wickmayer. The other half of the draw has Kim Clijsters, Justine Henin (who both continue their comebacks), Caroline Wozniacki and Maria Sharapova, along with a good outside bet in Serbian Jelena Jankovic. Top seed for the draw is Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova, who has lost twice in the final at Indian Wells. It is difficult to see her, from a betting point of view, get back the wealth of talent in her half of the draw. For now, we shall see if Britain’s Elena Baltacha can make her way into the main draw, and over the next two weeks, there will be match previews and tennis betting opportunities to explore here.

WTA Indian Wells Outright
Justine Henin: 10/3 at ExtraBet
Kim Clijsters: 9/2 at ExtraBet
Elena Dementieva: 12/1 at Expekt
Maria Sharapova: 12/1 at Bet365
Victoria Azarenka: 14/1 at Expekt

The Men’s tournament at Indian Wells is also in the qualification stage, with the players hoping to join the world’s elite in the main draw. Yes, everyone is there. World Number one Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Britain’s Andy Murray. Spaniard Nadal beat Andy Murray in the final at Indian Wells Garden last year, and after reaching the final of the Australian Open, Murray will be hoping to go one better. There is still the matter of three times champions Roger Federer to deal with though. There is an awesome amount of Tennis to come over the next fortnight, and we will be brining you the highlights of the competition right here, along with betting advice and tips.

Live from Indian Wells with Bet365. Yes, the online bookmaker will be providing free streamin of live tennis from Indian Wells Garden over the next couple of weeks. You can catch all the action there, and enjoy a great Live In-Play betting service as well from this leading bookmaker. There is also an incredibly generous welcome bonus of up to £200 in match bets worth investigating as well. With such a fantastic fortnight of tennis to come, take the opporuntiy to have a highly recommended bookmaker at your disposal, for all of your tennis betting.