ATP and WTA Tennis Betting Preview: The hype will die down for a bit now, with the big Indian Wells and Miami tennis tournaments being settled, but there are some minor WTA and ATP tournaments happening this week, which means that there is a good opportunity to pick up some betting. Why? Because these smaller tour competitions generally only have a three or four genuine world class players in there, and the rest of the field consists of players trying to make a name for themselves on the world tour. What this does is narrow down the betting and can be a good opportunity to back some winners. Many of the major online bookmakers do not always offer cover for these smaller tournaments, but all is not lost as there are betting exchanges like BetFair which you can go to in order to pick up bets. As long as you can pick up a matched bet on BetFair, where you bet against other punters and not a bookmaker, then you are good to go. A betting exchange will not only increase your chances of getting a bet covered, but of picking up increased prices as well.
The most interesting tournament this week is the WTA in Andalucía. There are a sprinkling of stars out for this one, including Belgian star Kim Clijsters, who demolished Venus Williams in the Miami final on Saturday. This elevated Clijsters back into the World Top ten, and it is less than a year since she has come out of retirement. From a betting point of view, she is the one with form, and would be expected to ride that wave through to the final in Andalucía. This is the first tournament on clay this year for the women, and that could work in Clijsters’ favour. Again, the draw is not that strong, but she has Italy’s Flavia Pennetta in her half of the draw, and that will be the expected semi final draw. In the top half, and in some ways a better, but edgier bet, is Victoria Azarenka (22/5 at BetFair). The World Number seven from Belarus, is the youngest player in the World Top Ten rankings and is a joy to watch, not always for the right reason. “Passionate” is one word to describe Azarenka, but unfortunately her aggression is not always controlled and she loses focus, as she did against Clijsters (38/25 at BetFair) in Miami. This air of being a bit maverick and playing on the edge, makes her thrilling to watch though. She visibly has bags of natural talent, as she plays the angles so well, and she moves fantastically and puts everything into every shot, pushing the line of bravery. Top seed for this tournament, struggling a bit for top form, but the change of surface coupled with the fact that she must be due a title soon, makes her a great bet. Stars off against a qualifier, and really there should be nothing to stop her, expect herself, on the way to the final.
Caroline Wozniacki (79/50 at BetFair), who is simply getting better and better with every match she plays this year, should cake walk the tournament in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. The young Dane won there last year, and twelve months later she finds herself sitting as the World’s number two player. The standard of competition here is less for her than it is for the likes of Azarenka and Clijsters in Andalucía. This tournament is played on green clay (only one of two such surfaces on the tour). Second seed Alona Bondarenko (around 3/1 at BetFair) is the only player anywhere near Wozniacki in the World rankings (and she’s down in 24th). One good looking outside bet, but unfortunately on an early collision course with Wozniacki is young Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (World 35th). Pavlyuchenkova (55/10 at BetFair) has had a steady rise in form through the season, culminating in winning her first tour title at the Monterrey Open. If she can upset Wozniacki, then she makes a great outside bet.
Two ATP Tournaments are happening this week, but even with the Hubble Telescope you won’t see any stars from the top ten in action. World Number 23 Stanislas Wawrinka (2/1 at BetFred) looks favourite in Casablanca, while the US Men’s Clay Court Championships in Texas looks set to be dominated by World Number 11 Fernando Gonzalez (11/8 at Stan James), while other interesting bets could lean on Sam Querrey (5/1 at Paddy Power) and John Isner (5/1 at Bet365).
Online Bookmaker Bet365 keeps up their awesome tennis coverage by providing live streams all week. This is the perfect place to go to enjoy live in-play betting, which is perfectly suited for tennis, so you can watch and bet all in one place. For funded account holders, access is free, and for those yet to have an account, simply sign up, take advantage of Bet365’s generous welcome offer of up to £200 in free bets, and enjoy some great tennis action with this excellent online bookmaker.
