Tennis Betting Advice - February 2018
Halep to bounce back at 10/1…
Sunday 11th February 2018
In your Ones to Watch email today:
Match picks do the job…
Three out of three successful match picks made it a profitable week for us last week.
We had to wait until the end for a Tiebreak on Friday night, but Roberto Carballes Baena and Nicolas Jarry came through with no breaks of serve in the deciding set. Carballes Baena won the match 3-6, 6-2, 7-6.
On the Outright Winner front, our 25/1 Each Way pick Benoit Paire bowed out in the ATP Montpellier quarter finals to Lucas Pouille (who was 6/1 for the tournament).
As we noted last week, a French winner was on the cards in this event and we went for a lively contender at a big price in Paire. As it turned out, it was an all-French final with Pouille beating 5/1 Richard Gasquet in the final.
We won’t be landing a tournament winner or finalist every week, but at the prices we tend to go for the payouts will serve us very nicely when they do.
Halep to bounce straight back at 10/1…
There are four events on the calendar this coming week:
The purpose of our Sunday email is to grab a best price before play starts, and with that in mind the Women’s event in Doha gets our first attention this week – with play starting from 9am Monday morning UK time.
We’ll take a look at this week’s other three tournaments over the next day or two – be it in the Outright Winner or match markets.
Simona Halep at 10/1 Each Way is the initial standout player & price for me in Qatar...
The Romanian pulled out of this tournament injured last year, but should be well-prepared for this and raring to go after a near miss in last month’s Australian Open final.
As I stated in our Aussie Open coverage, Halep looks to have taken her game up a notch, and with the World No.1 ranking (currently in Melbourne victor Caroline Wozniacki’s hands) at stake again this week – a fighter like Halep will no doubt have the bit between her teeth here.
Last year’s Doha winner Karolina Pliskova is in Halep’s side of the draw 12/1 for a title repeat, but she pulled out of her Fed Cup matches for the Czech Republic over the weekend so could be a risky pick here.
What’s more, Halep has a dominant 6-2 career head-to-head v Pliskova, including a confident 2-0 win at the Australian Open a couple of weeks ago.
Also in the bottom half of the draw with Simona…
Garbine Muguruza (14/1) has gone out in the 2nd Round or before on two of her last three Doha visits, and was struggling with injury in Australia last month.
Petra Kvitova (12/1) won indoors at St Petersburg recently but was on full duty at the Fed Cup for the Czech Republic over the weekend – and has never won more than two consecutive matches in Doha.
Other big names like Wozniacki (14/1), Angelique Kerber (9/1), Maria Sharapova (16/1) and Elina Svitolina (16/1) are all in the opposite side of the draw to Halep, so can’t meet our pick until the final.
A 10/1 tournament second-favourite might not be my usual ‘One to Watch’ type of selection, but with the draw and situation in mind here odds of 10/1 for the World No.2 look worth taking…
Halep has won 11 out of 12 matches so far in 2018, and has reached the final in four of her last seven hard court tournaments.
WTA Doha – Qatar Open
Outright Winner
BET: Simona Halep @ 10/1 Each Way
BOOKIES: 10/1 (11.00) Bet365, William Hill, BetVictor, NetBet, 9/1 (10.00) general
STAKE: 1 pt – Each Way
Latest odds here
I’ll be back on Monday with a look the week’s other tournaments and opportunities…
Enjoy the tennis...
Best wishes,
Tom Wilson