WTA Sydney 2019 Preview – January 7th-13th 2019
The action heats up before the Australian Open and it’s on to Sydney this week which is always a fantastic primer for the Grand Slam. Because of the looming action from Melbourne Park at the Slam (which starts on January 14th), there is another strong field out this week.
Simona Halep starts the tournament as top seed and she is the 6/1 second-favourite to get her hands on the title* (betting odds taken from bet365 on January 6th, 2018 at 4:32 pm).
Sydney International Odds*
Angelique Kerber 9/2
Simona Halep 6/1
Aryna Sabalenka 7/1
Ashleigh Barty 9/1
Sloane Stephens 12/1
Garbine Muguruza 14/1
Anastasija Sevastova 16/1
Petra Kvitova 20/1
Daria Kasatkina 20/1
Elise Mertens 20/1
Anett Kontaveit 25/1
33/1 bar
* (Betting Odds were taken from bet365 on January 6th, 2019 at 6:35 p.m.)
Table of Contents
Halep and Kerber start seasons
Twelve months ago it was Angelique Kerber who landed the title after beating Ashleigh Barty in the final. That was the German’s first success at the tournament and that totally explains the reason why she is at 9/2 odds in the outright winner market* (Betting Odds were taken from bet365 on January 6th, 2019 at 6:35 p.m.). The German will be one of the leading threats at the Australian Open and is the current number two in the world. This is her first tournament of the season but she looked sharp at the Hopman Cup exhibition.
Also making her season debut is world number one Simona Halep. She gets at tricky tray at the tournament though. Halep hurt her back out in China in September last year which really disturbed the back end of 2018 for her. In total, she spent six weeks out and most players over the winter break give themselves three. So she is going to have a fight on her hands to get back to top level.
Big tournament for Sabalenka
Aryna Sabalenka is gathering momentum. She’s not a household name yet, but after winning in Shenzhen in the opening week of the new season, she is heading towards a big target at the Australian Open. She gets a tough opener against Petra Kvitova though, but those two met at the US Open last year and Sabalenka won the duel comfortably. While she has that early season title in her bag, the level at Shenzhen was nowhere near this quality of field out in Sydney.
Sloane Stephens lost early in Brisbane last week against Jo Konta, looking out of sorts with her timing. But she is up there in the trading along with last year’s losing finalist Ashleigh Barty. Barty is in the same quarter as Halep and opens with a tough game against Jelena Osapenko. Stephens is up in a tough top half of the draw as well, but in the second quarter, where Garbine Muguruza and Jo Konta are both housed as well.
Solid Third Quarter
The third quarter looks really interesting with the big threats in there being Daria Kasatkina and Anastasija Sevastova who would be on a collision course for a quarter-final showdown. The threat in there floating around is Dominika Cibulkova who is always capable of an upset or two. Kvitova and Sabalenka, as mentioned meets at the top of the fourth quarter and that is where Kerber is. Kerber gets a bye through to the second round.
Predictions
Over the weekend we saw Julia Goerges defend a title and we feel that Kerber can do the same. The German should be able to get through her quarter easily enough really and she will want as powerful of a performance as possible ahead of the Australian Open.
There has to be rust in Halep’s game after so long out so is worth avoiding. Look for someone from the second quarter where Stephens, Muguruza and Konta are. Based on early season form, Konta, the 2018 winner, may actually be worth a flutter to get to the final.
