WTA – Britain’s Elena Baltacha looking to serve up a treat as Tennis gets into full swing

It’s tennis overload again this week as the season really starts getting into full swing. There is even some added interest from a British point of view, with Elena Baltacha being seeded for her tournament. Casting a good eye over the women’s game, there are three good tournaments going on this week, with most of the top stars in action spread across them.

Barclays Dubai Tennis Championship

Probably the premier tournament happening this week out of the three. This is $2,000,000 event which is played outdoors on a hard court. This is the tournament which has attracted most of the top seeds, and it is a major 64 player tournament. Number One seed going into the tournament is Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki who received a bye through to the second round, where she duly beat unseeded Dominika Cibulkova 6-4 6-4. If things go to plan during her half of the draw, then she will likely come up against defending Dubai champion Venus Williams in the Semi Final. Australian Open surprise, China’s Na Li is in the same quarter as Wozniacki, but took three games to get past Spain’s Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, while 11th seed Marion Bartoli was on cruise control through her first two matches. It is likely that Wozniacki will meet one of those in the Quarter Finals.

One to watch out for, who could upset the apple cart is Russia’s Elena Dementieva, who beat Daniela Hantuchova in the second round. She is on a collision course with 3rd seed Venus Williams in the Quarter Finals, but is in good form. Dementieva already has two titles under belt so far this season, winning in Sydney in January, and in Paris just a week ago. This would be a repeat of the 2009 Quarter Final, which Williams won quite comfortably. Although the head to head standings has Williams 9-3 up over Dementieva, the Russian is a good tip to go with in this competition, and did get the better of her opponent the last time they met.

The other half of the draw is just as fascinating, with some big names on a collision course in the Quarter Finals. In the third quarter of the draw, Belarussian Victoria Azarenka is seeded highest (4th for the tournament) but there isn’t going to be any ride for her to get to the final, as she’s probably drawn the toughest quarter. Not only is the threat of Serbian Jelena Jankovic there, who struggled a bit in her second round match but pulled through, there is also Vera Zvonereva in the mix. The Russian, ranked 12 is another one of those players who has huge potential to win tournaments like this if she can reach the top of her game. She lost to Azarenka at the Australian Open and may be out for a bit of revenge this time around.

In the fourth quarter of the draw, Svetlana Kuznetsova, who is ranked number two for the tournament, should have a fairly easy ride to the semi’. She’s likely face either Agnieszka Radwanska (7th) or Flavia Pennetta (10th) in the Quarter Finals, and then will go up against the winner of the third quarter from the paragraph above. Kuznetsova is a two times Grand Slam winner, her most recent success being in the French Open last year, but hasn’t really hit top form this year yet, crashing out of the Australian Open too 19th seed Nadia Petrova. Still, she has the game to win the tournament if she can regain her top form, and has some history behind her, having won in Dubai in 2008. Favourable draw for her, so she should be a good bet for the semi’s.

Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships Outright Winner. Check out Stan James for all these prices:
Venus Williams – 5/2
Victoria Azarenka – 3/1
Jelena Jankovic – 6/1
Vera Zvonareva – 6.1
Svetlana Kuznetsova – 7/1
Caroline Wozniacki -8/1

All above prices at Stan James

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Regions Morgan Keegan Championships & the Cellular South Cup

Britain have a seeded player in a tennis tournament, who is not named Andy Murray. Elena Baltacha, who performed some heroics at the Australian Open by reaching the third round, is ranked 8th for the…(take a deep breath)…Regions Morgan Keegan Championships and The Cellular South Cup. Phew. This is a hard court tournament held in Memphis, USA. Ranked 83rd in the world standing, Baltacha, who is forever smiling, could end up with the glamour tie against tennis queen Maria Sharapova in the third round. Baltacha easily beat Renata Voracova in the first round, and a qualifier in Valerie Tetreault await the winner in the second round.

First seed Sharapova looked in ominous form, as she blitzed past Shenay Perry of the USA in less than an hour. Sharapova crashed out in the first round of the Australian Open this year, and will be hungry for some success to come her way. Ranked 16th in the world, she is head and shoulders the best player in this tournament, with Melanie Oudin the next highest ranked players, seeded 2nd in the tournament, but ranked 53rd in the world. There was a lot more higher ranked players in this tournament last year, but they seem to have all emigrated to Dubai, including last year’s winner Victoria Azarenka who beat Caroline Wozniacki in the final. All this should leave the way clear for Sharapova to pick up the honours.

Three Britain’s actually entered the tournament, and there are still two standing. Katie O’Brien lost to wild card Bethanie Mattek-Sands in the first round, but Anne Keothavong earned herself a place in the second round with a good, convincing win, and now plays Portugal’s Michelle Larcher De Brito. There’s no chance of the two Brits meeting, well, unless it’s in the final, which is highly unlikely, but it keeps interest keen in British Women’s Tennis.

Outright Winner
Check out Betfair for the prices on this tournament. This betting exchange can pick up good prices, as minor tournaments like this aren’t always covered by online bookmakers. This way, with the Betfair exchange, you can at least pick up some good prices, as you are essentially bidding against other punters. Very often, because there isn’t that middle man, you can get some enhanced prices. Betfair is well worth checking out for events such as this, which fall under the radar a little bit.

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XVIII Copa BBVA Colsanitas, Bogota

This outdoor clay event will fall into the background thanks to the higher profiles of the other  two tournaments happening at the moment. Top seed at this event in Bogota, Columbia, is South America’s finest, Gisela Dulko. The Argentinean is ranked 35th in the world and being the top seed for this tournament, gives you an inkling about the quality of opposition she’ll come up against. This is a good chance for the lesser ranked players to get some glory, but Dulko will remain firm favourite. All of the seeded players progressed through the first round with no problems, and there doesn’t look as if there’ll be much opposition to stop her doing just that.

Outright Winner
Again it’s worth looking an exploring options on Betfair for this tournament as well. Likewise, scour Bet365 for their Live In-Play service, as that is also a nice way to pick up a little extra betting action, and therefore rewards on this smaller tournament tennis action.