WTA Brisbane Preview 2019
There is a good looking and highly competitive field out in Brisbane in this early-season contest. The Australian Open is a big early highlight of the sporting calendar year and so there is no time to waste in terms of players getting their games up and running after their winter breaks.
Naomi Osaka and Elina Svitolina head up the Brisbane field as joint 5/1 favourites* (betting odds taken from bet365 on December 30th, 2018 at 5:03 pm)
WTA Brisbane Odds*
Naomi Osaka 5/1
Elina Svitolina 5/1
Sloane Stephens 13/2
Karolina Pliskova 7/1
Petra Kvitova 9/1
Kiki Bertens 12/1
Daria Kasatkina 12/1
Anastaija Sevastova 14/1
Elise Mertens 18/1
Johanna Konta 28/1
Anett Kontaveit 33/1
Daria Gavrilova 40/1
Carla Suarez Navarro 40/1
* (betting odds taken from bet365 on December 30th, 2018 at 4:45 pm)
WTA Brisbane Preview
The defending champion is Elina Svitolina after having opened the 2018 campaign so strongly. She goes as the top seed and won’t be too disappointed with the draw ahead of her really to the semi-final stage, not considering the amount of talent that is in this field. The top seed that she could meet in the quarter finals is 6th seed Kiki Bertens.
Svitolina finished the 2018 strongly with a win at WTA Singapore over Sloane Stephens. That was a competitive run that she had there too against the likes of Karolina Pliskova, Caroline Wozniacki and Kiki Bertens along the way. Svitolina really likes WTA Brisbane too as she had landed back to back semi finals before landing the win last year.
Naomi Osaka is there at the head of the market with Svitolina. Osaka had that tremendous moment, the biggest win of her career when she beat Serena Williams in the final of the US Open. This is the second campaign in Brisbane during her career, the first attempt was back in 2016 when she didn’t get past the quarter-final stage. Her standing in the game wasn’t as big then as it is now of course. Osaka is down in the less congested bottom half of the draw.
The second quarter of the draw is the most competitive without a shadow of a double. Third-seed Sloane Stephens is in there and she is back at the tournament for the first time since 2013 when she lost in the quarter finals to Serena Williams. This will be her third attempt at the tournament having lost in the first round of her first attempt back in 2012. She gets a tough opener against Britain’s Jo Konta.
Konta could not find her best or any kind of momentum last season. So this is going to be an important juncture in her career. She needs a big season ahead of her. This is a tough opening draw though and this is the same quarter as fifth seed Karolina Pliskova as well. Pliskova would be on course to meet the winner of the Stephens v Konta opener down the line at the quarter-final stage. She gets more of a chance to ease her way into the tournament. This is Pliskova’s first attempt at Brisbane.
Predictions
This is a wide-open tournament. Svitolina clearly has a great affinity with this tournament and is worth a look. But she is in that tough top half of the draw and it would be a surprise if she didn’t get a top showdown against a seeded player in the semi finals. Because of the draw, then Osaka comes into play well as an option. The big player with value though is Karolina Pliskova who is a danger and she gets through her tough quarter, that means she’s on top of her game and can challenge.
