WTA Bastad Tennis Betting Odds and Preview

Red hot Errani guns for fifth clay title of the season

Mona Barthel (Germany)
Mona Barthel (Germany) © GEPA pictures

WTA Bastad Tennis Betting Info
With some of the WTA stars deciding to take on the USA hard court swing of the season, a bunch have stayed behind in Europe after Wimbledon to get back on to the clay court surface. The London 2012 Olympic Games tennis tournament is right around the corner and these matches will be valuable preparations for the return to Wimbledon for the second time this year. So a good field, competitive, just as it was in Palermo, Italy last week, and a lot of familiar faces are back this week. The Sony Swedish Open was only launched back in 2009, and it replaced the Stockholm Open.

WTA Bastad Tennis Betting Defending Champion
Youngster Polona Hercog won the Sony Swedish Open here last year, beating Sweden’s own Johanna Larsson to take the title. Hercog is back for the defence of her title, but the likelihood of that happening really is not strong looking at her form. It has, by and large been a very disappointing season for her, not yet stepping up to that next level of performance. That is why the 21 year old is well out in the betting, she never pushed herself on from the title late year and she out at 50/1 with online bookmaker BetVictor.

WTA Bastad Tennis Betting Favourite
Italian Sara Errani is the outright favourite for the Swedish Open and it is hard to look past here. The diminutive Italian has had an incredible season, on clay at least. With a win in Palermo on the weekend, she picked up her fourth clay court title of the season, and she also reached the final of the French Open at Roland Garros as well. She is a star on the red stuff and looks untouchable at the moment. She now holds a 29-4 win loss record on clay this season, which is remarkable. She is the hot property of the clay court season, so it is no wonder she stayed where her strengths are. She became the first Italian to win four titles in a year, can she make it five? Errani is trading as 7/5 firm favourite with online bookmaker Bet Victor.

Other Contenders
There are some great clay court players in the field, and we’ll start with a look at Germany’s Julia Goerges. Was one of the favourites to go all the way in Palermo last week, but again, her unpredictability got the better of her. She is one of the players who has the potential to take titles like this, and when she brings her A-game, she looks such a solid all round player. Sadly, it doesn’t happen often enough. A quality player when she is in the mood and will be looking to go better than she did in Italy last week, and has the potential to do so.

A couple of strong names who have early tough tests in Sweden this week are Anabel Medina Garrigues and Roberto Vinci, both clay court specialists Because of their surface skills, either one could make a run at the final, but the Spaniard Medina Garrigues does look the better option. She finds her feet and controls games just that little bit better than Italian Vinci Roberta Vinci, second seed in Palermo last week, crashed out in the second round to Britain’s Laura Robson (who is also back in action this week in this event). Robson was in splendid form last week, reaching her first ever WTA semi final. As for Vinci, she has the experience to clay and grind her way back from that result in Palermo.

Barbora Zahlavova Strycova put in the best week of her 2012 season to make it to the final of Palermo last week. The Czech player was the one who finally halted the run of Laura Robson in the semi finals. Zahlavova Strycova is not one of those players who show up very often, so any bit of confidence and form, which she has at the moment, could be worth riding for a few games into the tournament and then going from there. Out of the chasing back though, it really looks as if Anabel Medina Garrigues has the stuff to pull out a good tournament.

Best Outside Bet
Germany’s Mona Barthel is going as out outside bet of the week for the Swedish Open tennis betting. The youngster is touted as being one of the most highly rated rookies in the WTA, with potential to really become something special. She showed her ability in winning Hobart right at the start of the season, beating Medina Garrigues, Angelique Kerber and Yanina Wickmayer en route to her victory. She has also made the quarter finals of Paris, Copenhagen and Stuttgart this season. A tremendous prospect, pushed Vera Zvonareva hard in the first round of Wimbledon but fell in three sets. The bookies like her for Sweden and there has been good interest in the young German.

Latest WTA Bastad Tennis Betting Prices at Bet Victor
Sara Errani 7/4, Mona Barthel 9/2, Julia Goerges 6/1, Anabel Medina Garrigues 10/1, Roberta Vinci 14/1, Klara Zakopalova 14/1, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 14/1, Barbora Zahlavova Strycova 22/1, Laura Robson 50/1

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.