WTA Carlsbad Mercury Insurance Open Tennis Betting Odds and Preview

Bartoli looks for a return to form in California

Marion Bartoli
Marion Bartoli © GEPA pictures

WTA Carlsbad Mercury Insurance Open Tennis Betting Info
The action is split this week between the Emirates Airline US Open Series and players staying in Europe on clay ahead of the Olympic Games. There is a good field out in Carlsbad, California for this one, including some of the top performers from last week, who will be hoping to carry over momentum. These are big preparation for the Olympic Games, with the hard court surface being easier to switch back to grass at Wimbledon in a couple of weeks for the players. This is all about momentum now for your tennis betting and getting a good look at players who could cause an upset at London 2012.

WTA Carlsbad Mercury Insurance Open Tennis Betting Defending Champion
Agnieszka Radwanska took the title here last year, beating Vera Zvonareva in the final. That was the first WTA Tour title for the Polish star for three years, and how she has propelled herself forward since then. Radwanska, who was the defeated Wimbledon finalist against Serena Williams, is not back in California this week to defend her title though, as she is resting up and fine tuning for a run at at an Olympic medal.

WTA Carlsbad Mercury Insurance Open Tennis Betting Favourite
With Radwanska not back in attendance, it has left the field open for Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli to be installed as outright betting favourite. Bartoli goes as top seed in California. Bartoli went to the quarter finals in Stanford last week, a better performance from her in a quiet year. She hasn’t hit the heights of 2011 yet, not helped out by injury and fitness problems, but the gutsy French star can produce. Not been at her best for a good three or four months, but it would only take one strong tournament run for her to get her confidence back. After crashing out in the second round of Wimbledon, she needs a bit of a fillip. Bartoli is trading as 3/1 favourite with online bookmaker Bet Victor.

Other Contenders
Dominika Cibulkova also went to the quarter finals of Stanford last week, so in decent form. We always seem to just be waiting for the Slovakian to break out and really start landing titles with her incredible potential. She was trucking along with very solid four quarter finals in four tournaments before she hit Wimbledon and then it all fell apart in the first round against Klara Zakopalova. But she got herself back on track in Rhode Island last week, and she looks a pretty strong bet here. She is carrying more form than Marion Bartoli at the moment, and her all round game could get her pretty close to the title this week.

Nadia Petrova will be looking back at the history of Carlsbad and will see that three of the last four titles have been won by Russians. That could put the ball in her court, and with a title win just last month out in S’Herteogenbosch, Netherlands (where she beat Dominika Cibulkova along the way), should put her in pretty good stead. This is a field in which she can make a big impact and should be pretty evenly matched up against the likes of Bartoli and Cibulkova, so the Russian has every chance here.

Belgian Yanina Wickmayer made a solid impression at Stanford last week, before succumbing to the inspired Coco Vandeweghe. That means that Wickmayer has now leap-frogged the great Kim Clijsters as the top ranked Belgian in the world. Wickmayer can grind out results and she had a really strong start to 2012 before fading away. There have just been a couple of signs that she is getting back on top of her game, and should be a decent shot for the quarter finals at the very least this week in California.

Other names in the field include former world number one Jelena Jankovic, who has now lost four straight matches after crashing out of Stanford last week. There is the class of Daniela Hantuchova in the mix as well, and we haven’t seen much of her lately, but always brings a competitive game. There is also American Coco Vandeweghe who impressed so much in Stanford last week. Coco downed Jelena Jankovic and Yanina Wickmayer last week in Stanford, losing out to Serena Williams in the final. It was the first time since 2005 that a lucky loser had made it all the way to the final of a WTA event. So kudos to her and she will be looking to ride her big wave of form. What helped her last week was getting off to a strong start and then running hot.

Best Outside Bet
Young Romanian Sorana Cirstea is our favourite outside bet for the week though. Bags of potential and she hasn’t hit her career peak yet. Faded a little after a solid start to the new season, but responded very well with form at Stanford last week where she made it to the semi finals. That could have been a big step forward for her. Cirstea is trading at 16/1 with online bookmaker Bet Victor.

Latest WTA Carlsbad Mercury Insurance Open Tennis Betting Prices
Marion Bartoli 3/1, Dominika Cibulkova 6/1, Nadia Petrova 6/1, Yanina Wickmayer 7/1, Jelena Jankovic 8/1, Christina McHale 10/1, Sorana Cirstea 16/1, Chanelle Scheepers 20/1, Daniela Hantuchova 20/1, Coco Vandeweghe 25/1

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.