Tennis Betting Advice - January 2019
And now for Russia… two picks for St Petersburg
Sunday 27th January 2019
In your Ones to Watch email today:
Ones to Watch this week…
Good evening. It’s me again. The bookies have popped up with their Outright Winner markets for the WTA St Petersburg event – barely an hour after my last email to you. So I thought I’d strike while the iron is hot and get my two picks for this week’s indoor event in Russia to you, ASAP…
We’ll get this evening’s second batch of business done. Then we can go into the start of play on Monday with our full set of tournament selections for the week already in the book, nice and early – and at the best prices.
Play starts in WTA Hua Hin, Thailand from 8am. We’ve got a player in each half of the draw: Luksika Kumkhum @ 33/1 Each Way and Ajla Tomljanovic @ 14/1 or 12/1 Each Way.
Two serious contenders in St Petersburg…
Play starts in St Petersburg at 10am. We’re going for the same one-from-each-half tactic here…
In the top half, where reigning champion Petra Kvitova (4/1) is no certainty to last the week after a gruelling run of 12 matches Down Under, the player for me is Julia Goerges at 10/1 Each Way…
The German will be looking to bounce back after a narrow 1st Round lost at the Australian Open – where she went out to eventual 500/1 semi-finalist Danielle Collins.
Goerges reached the semis here in St Petersburg last year, only beaten by tournament winner Kvitova. The big-hitting 30-year-old has played her most consistent tennis in the latter phase of her career.
Julia won WTA Auckland earlier this month. And on indoor hard courts, Goerges’ record in recent times is eye-catching to say the least: semi final at WTA Elite Trophy 2018, won WTA Luxembourg 2018, semi final at St Petersburg 2018, won WTA Elite Trophy 2017, won WTA Moscow 2017.
In the bottom half of the draw, Aryna Sabalenka is another player looking to put an early Aussie Open exit behind her – and she looks just the kind of character to come firing back with a big statement…
The 20-year-old from Belarus has a Bye through the 1st Round here. In a tournament this size that means she needs just three match wins to make the final, and four to win it…
Sabalenka won WTA Shenzhen on hard courts in her first tournament of the year. Before that, this exciting young player won 25 out of 33 matches in the hard court swing following Wimbledon, winning two trophies on the way.
At odds of 4/1 this one is a Win Only pick rather than an Each Way selection. I don’t go for that kind of tournament price often – but Sabalenka is a real-deal player in my eyes, and I reckon she will be bang up for this week. The Grand Slam breakthrough will have to wait until the summer at least, but she can sweep up a good few WTA titles in the meantime.
Ones to Watch picks for St Petersburg:
WTA St Petersburg – St Petersburg Ladies Trophy
Outright Winner:
BET: Julia Goerges @ 10/1 Each Way
BOOKIES: 10/1 (11.00) Bet365, Paddy Power, Betfair Sportsbook
BET: Aryna Sabalenka @ 4/1
BOOKIES: 4/1 (5.00) Bet365, Ladbrokes, Coral
Latest WTA St Petersburg odds here >>
I’ll be back later in the week with updates from Russia and Thailand. Both tournaments are being broadcast live on the BT Sport channels.
Enjoy the tennis…
Best wishes,
Tom Wilson