2012 Indian Wells Tennis Betting Info
It is off to California for the BNP Paribas Open, more affectionately known as Indian Wells to tennis fans. This year, the incredible precedent has been set this year, that both the mens’ and womens’ champion will get $1 million prize money each. This has been a move by the tournament to continue to establish it as one of the biggest events outside of the Grand Slams. Because of this being a Premier Tier event on the WTA Tour (one of four), all of the top stars in attendance because it demands their mandatory participation. The BNP Paribas is the most attended tennis event outside of the Grand Slams, and we should be in for a wonderful week or so of tennis. New world number one Victoria Azarenka leads the star studded field in California as the rest of the players try to catch her and stop her incredible form. The WTA field is quickly tightly packed with talent and we have seen some showing good early form, while others have been quieter, targeting the big events like this.
2012 Indian Wells Tennis Betting Defending Champion
Young Dane Caroline Wozniacki won her 14th career title here last year when she was on top of the world, will simply be one of the chasing pack this time around. Wozniacki hasn’t been in great form at all this year and she is just lacking an edge to her game. She has fallen down to number four in the world, but that hasn’t worked out too badly for her because she has a pretty easy draw ahead of her to the semi finals. For a player of her calibre when she is on top of her game, it should be easy anyway. She really gets to avoid big guns in her quarter until the quarter finals where a likely opponent will be Marion Bartoli. Don’t know how much you can read into this, but she played an exhibition against Maria Sharapova recently and lost in straight sets. She is on a very poor 7-4 match record for the season so far from four tournaments, and so far has been well below her best. There is an opportunity to fly under the radar in a decent draw for her, and really, the WTA needs her to get back on top of her game, to spice up the competition a bit more. Wozniacki isn’t expected to be heavily backed, and is trading back at 11/1 at Bwin to reclaim her crown. She has been in the last two finals here though, so a good bit of tournament history.
2012 Indian Wells Tennis Betting Favourite
Victoria Azarenka, Vika, is the tournament favourite in 2012 Indian Wells tennis betting. The tall Belarusian has been in unbeatable form this season, literally She has gone 17-0 for the new season, finally becoming the total package her talent has been projecting for the past couple of years. She has it all at the moment, confidence, incredible power in her strokes, mental focus and one of the most underestimated skills of tennis, lateral movement. Azarenka moves so much better across the court now than she did say twelve months ago. Her anticipation is there, and the sheer power in her serves and grounds strokes, means that she plays some serious power tennis. It may not be the fanciest tennis on the WTA, but it is effective at the moment. She broke through to her first Grand Slam title this year, taking the Australian Open. On top of that, she has added the Sydney and Doha titles (impressively at Doha, she dropped just 18 games on her way to the title, the fewest ever in the process of winning a WTA Tour title). So, hands down, right now, Victoria Azarenka is the one to beat. There are tricky opponents floating around her quarter of the draw. But as the number one seed, she is the one expected to be in the semi’s from the top half. Azarenka is trading at a market best price of 9/4 with Boylesports to win Indian Wells. Her best performance at Indian Wells was a semi final in 2009.
Other Contenders
This list could get long, so evenly matched is the WTA. Still, we will start with Maria Sharapova, the losing Australian Open finalist. Apart from that, her only other appearance was in Parish, where she lost to Angelique Kerber in the quarter finals to much surprise. She is a big tournament player though and should go well. There are question marks because of how easily she was rolled over in the final of the Australian Open, just whether she has that edge to go all the way. Regardless, she is one of the grittiest, most determined and bravest players on the WTA Tour and she is so powerful to boot. She will be happy with the draw, because there doesn’t look to be any real dangers along the way to the semi finals really. Sharapova makes for a very good shout, is a former winner of Indian Wells, let’s not forget that stat, and could run into Wozniacki in what would be a cracking semi final. Petra Kvitova has been incredibly quiet this year, warming up in Sydney before the Australian Open and we have not seen her since her semi final exit to Maria Sharapova there. Still, we all know what a powerful and classy player she is, and really deserves to be up there having a crack at Azarenka. That is a likely semi final match up in your 2012 Indian Wells tennis betting, so what a treat that would be. No reason why she shouldn’t be in the semifinals at all if she brings her powerful a-game to California, but she missed all of the Middle Eastern tour swing recently because of illness and injury, so we don’t know just what the level of her participation is going to be. The other name which has to be mentioned among the front runners for the 2012 Indian Wells tennis betting, is Agnieszka Radwanska. The Pole is such a likeable player, and has been one of the season’s best performers. She got her deserved rewards in Dubai when she beat Julia Goerges in the final, and she has been in the quarter final of all tournaments contested this season. She has been eliminated by Azarenka three times this season in tournaments, and those two would meet in the quarter finals at Indian Wells. But if Azarenka slips, the vastly improved Radwanska could be there waiting to pounce.
Best Outside Bet
This is another category in which we could go on and on. Kaia Kanepi. Dominika Cibulkova. Daniela Hantuchova. Vera Zvonareva. However, because of the uncertainty of Kvitova, we wanted to pull a back up plan out of her quarter of the draw, and Germany’s Angelique Kerber may be worth a look at a deep run. Not totally suggesting that she can win it outright, but she could spring some surprises. She has been in great form this season, including a win in Paris where she beat Sharapova and Bartoli on the way to the title. However, our best shot here is going to be Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli. We mention her a lot as the best outside/dark horse bet in major tournaments, and she has the quality to take big titles. Like most on the WTA except Azarenka, it has been an understated start from her this season, but has start to pick up her form. She has the energy to run the rest of the field into the ground, and in Wozniacki’s quarter, has a decent chance.
Latest 2012 Indian Wells Tennis Betting Prices
Victoria Azarenka: 9/4 at Boylesports
Petra Kvitova: 9/2 at Totesport
Maria Sharapova: 11/2 at BetFred
Caroline Wozniacki: 11/1 at Bwin
Agnieszka Radwanska: 16/1 at BetFred
Na Li: 16/1 at SportingBet
Sam Stosur: 20/1 at SportingBet
Marion Bartoli: 33/1 at Boylesports
Vera Zvonareva: 50/1 at Boylesports
Online Bookmaker Promotion
Online bookmaker Bet Victor run a great tennis betting promotion which is worth dipping into throughout the 2012 season. Place a match bet on any match from the main draw of an ATP or WTA event, and if your selection loses the match in a final set tie break, then you will get your lost stake back as a free bet. So this gives you some nice coverage on your tennis betting throughout the season, should your match selection lose in a cruel way in a final set tie break. Online bookmaker Bet Victor offer a free £25 bet for new customers registering an account. The bookie will match the value of your first stake on a new account, up to the maximum value of £25, with a free bet.
