Tennis Betting Advice - February 2023

Expect a scrap in Linz this evening...

Wednesday 8th February 2023

I love it when a plan comes together.

It wasn’t all plain sailing for Marc-Andrea Huesler yesterday. But the big-serving left-hander got the 1st-round win, beating upcoming 18-year-old opponent Luca Van Assche 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.

Huesler landed the match odds of 4/7. The proceeds of which, following yesterday morning’s advice for ATP Montpellier, will have covered our stakes on the Swiss player as a Ones to Watch underdog pick to win the tournament (28/1 Each Way).

  • Bet365 are still offering Huesler at 28/1 this morning, with the preferable Each Way terms of 1/2 odds for 1-2 places

Yesterday’s second email contained two Each Way picks for ATP Dallas. And things went well on Tuesday night, with John Isner (12/1+) and Marcos Giron (20/1) both coming through their 1st round matches.

Isner’s win was a classic scoreline for the tall American, 7-6, 7-6 – and winning 100% of his service games. Giron survived a wobble when serving for his match in set two, before storming away with it in the decider, 6-4, 6-7, 6-1.

  • Unibet have the best prices on our two Dallas Outright Winner picks this morning, in case you missed them yesterday. With Isner at 12/1. And Giron at 20/1 also available with Bet365 and BetVictor (Each Way terms: 1/2 odds 1-2 places)

Expect a scrap in Linz this evening…

On to the women’s tennis now, and I’ve got one match pick for us today….

Anastasia Potapova v Jule Niemeier – Over 21.5 Games @ 4/5

WTA Linz, 2nd round
Match scheduled approx. 7pm UK time

Last week we successfully targeted Jule Niemeier for an Over 21.5 Games bet in Lyon, with that Total Games selection v Camila Osorio coming in with a bit of room to spare (25 games).

  • The 23-year-old German has now played 3 indoor hard-court matches this year, all coming since 30th January. And all 3 have produced ‘high’ tallies for Total Games: 29, 25, 27

We also followed Anastasia Potapova in Lyon last week, with our 18/1 tournament pick getting as far as the quarter finals. The 21-year-old Russian continues to show plenty of promise and ability, but remains inconsistent (and with a couple of injury niggles by the look of it).

A common feature of Potapova’s matches is that they tend to contain a lot of ‘stress.’ If you watch one, you’ll see what I mean. The youngster often gets agitated, too down on herself, or too worked up. I think she’s improving in this area. And when she does, we could see something similar (one day, perhaps) to the recent Grand Slam blossoming of another often ‘stressed’ player, new Australian Open champion, Aryna Sabalenka.

For the time being though, Potapova’s matches continue to swing one way and the other, punctuated by breaks of serve and scoreboard turnarounds. Switching from fabulous winning shots one minute, to ‘brain freeze’ errors the next. All of which can lead to three-set matches and some tough battles on court…

  • Potapova has played 4 indoor hard-court matches in a row, and all 4 have gone the distance to 3 sets. With Total Games tallies of: 25, 29, 24 in Lyon last week, and then 27 in the 1st round here in Linz this week

Both Niemeier and Potapova play a power-game brand of tennis. I’m expecting this evening’s match to be entertaining, with peaks and troughs in the quality – but ultimately a close scrap…

The bookies seemingly agree, with Bet365 making it a pick ‘em in the Match Winner market, at 10/11 (1.91) apiece. While severed firms have set the Total Games line at Under/ Over 22.5 Games, instead of the slightly more preferable 21.5.

Over 22.5 Games is available at Even Money (2.0) with several firms for this match – including Bet365, BetVictor, Skybet, Paddy Power & Betfair Sportsbook. That’s a completely acceptable proposition, and could be settled in just two sets (if the score was 7-6, 6-4, for example, or 7-5, 7-5).

  • I’m putting up the very best line as the recommended account bet here, and that’s Over 21.5 Games at 4/5 (1.8) with Unibet, or 8/11 (1.73) with a couple of others – see below

This is the last match due on court in Linz today, expected around 7pm UK time. You can watch live on Amazon Prime Video, or with selected bookies including Bet365 and Ladbrokes.

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Ones to Watch picks:

WTA Linz – Upper Austria Ladies Linz

Anastasia Potapova v Jule Niemeier

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P.S

I’m taking some time off over the next week or so. The next tournaments I’ll be covering will be these, which take place the week commencing 20th February:

WTA 250 Merida - Merida Open Akron - Hard Court

ATP 250 Marseille - Open 13 Provence - Indoor Hard

ATP 250 Doha - Qatar ExxonMobil Open - Hard

ATP 500 Rio de Janeiro - Rio Open presented by Claro - Clay

WTA 1000 Dubai - Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships - Hard

Enjoy the tennis…

Best wishes,

Tom Wilson

Tom Wilson

Ones to Watch