Tennis Betting Advice - February 2019

Tournament update – Copil beats Wawrinka...

Wednesday 6th February 2019

In your Ones to Watch email today:

  • This week’s picks...
  • Two in, two out...
  • Copil cut from 66/1 to 22/1...

Two in, two out...

When we back players at odds of 18/1, 22/1, 25/1 and 66/1 – the prices we’ve taken this week – it’s to be expected that we lose a couple of players along the way.

Admittedly, I was hoping for Nikoloz Basilashvili (ATP Sofia) and Nicolas Jarry (ATP Cordoba) to get a bit further than the 1st Round...

Basilashvili appeared to be a little under the weather, but even so he had two set points in both sets of his 7-6, 7-5 defeat to World No.180 Daniel Brands.

Jarry also fell at the first hurdle, and also to an opponent ranked outside the Top 100 – Argentinean wild card Juan Ignacio Londero being one of nine home players in the Cordoba draw.

Our two other big-price Each Way picks made a much better start...

In Sofia, 66/1 outsider Marius Copil pulled off one of the best results of his career, beating three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka 3-6, 7-6, 6-4. The Romanian got better as the match went on, and his serve proved a dangerous weapon throughout.

The run through the Sofia draw won’t get any easier for Copil – next up he will likely face the vastly experienced Fernando Verdasco, with top seed Karen Khachanov and 4th seed Roberto Bautista-Agut also in the top half of the draw. But our man made the final here at this venue last year, and is a real threat on indoor hard courts.

And whatever happens from here on in, we have price firmly on our side. Copil was a top price 66/1 on Sunday night. Having knocked out Wawrinka, our man’s Outright Winner price has been chopped by two thirds, to 22/1 at best. Ladbrokes are as short as 14/1.

In this week’s other indoor hard court event at ATP Montpellier, our 25/1 shot Pierre-Hugues Herbert made an impressive start last night with a comfortable 6-2, 6-1 win over Denis Kudla. The 27-year-old Frenchman, ranked at a career-high No.44 in the world, will next face either World No.80 Ilya Ivashka or No.84 Thomas Fabbiano. The bookies now make Herbert 14/1.

Copil and Herbert will be back in action on Thursday.

I’ll be in touch as usual on Sunday night with a first look at next week’s four tournaments – and before if any further opportunities arise for us over the next few days in Sofia, Montpellier or Cordoba.

Enjoy the tennis...

Best wishes,

Oliver Upstone

Tom Wilson

Ones to Watch