Tennis Betting Advice - January 2020

Sunday Night Club – with 16/1 and 20/1 picks…

Sunday 12th January 2020

In your Ones to Watch email today:

  • Alexandrova wins in China…
  • Ones to Watch this week…
  • Outright Winner picks at 9/1, 10/1, 16/1 & 20/1…

Alexandrova wins in China…

We won’t get a ‘Ones to Watch’ pick into a final every week. But we hit the ground running in week one of the 2020 season…

Our Outright Winner pick Ekaterina Alexandrova (16/1 or 11/1 Each Way) lifted her maiden WTA title in Shenzhen.

Over at the inaugural ATP Cup team event in Australia, the trophy ended up being decided by the two top-ranked players in the world, with Novak Djokovic’s Serbia beating Rafael Nadal’s Spain in the final.

Time for ‘Sunday Night Club’ now, getting our first picks of the week in the book, with the 1st round matches beginning overnight…

Ones to Watch this week…

The week before a Grand Slam often sees the big names and higher-ranked players sitting it out.

With the Australian Open in Melbourne just seven days away, we should be wary of backing any favourites this week who may have more than one eye on upcoming Grand Slam business.

Twelve months ago, this week on the tour calendar produced finalists at big prices – 80/1 and 20/1 winners, along with 150/1, 80/1 and 28/1 runners-up.

With those points in mind, week two of the 2020 season presents itself as good hunting ground for our Ones to Watch approach. We could see one or two newcomers in the trophy zone – and some attractive prices, too…

Young guns in Auckland…

Last week the women were in Auckland, with the favourite Serena Williams lifting the trophy, for her first title win since returning to the tour after the birth of her first child.

This week it’s the men’s turn with ATP Auckland (hard court, ATP 250 grade event) kicking off from 11pm tonight, UK time…

That first match this evening features one of our new Ones to Watch in 2020 players, Hubert Hurkacz.

After a strong showing for Poland at the ATP Cup last week – where the 22-year-old won all three of his Singles matches, beating a trio of higher-ranked opponents – the 6’5” right-hander is priced at around 9/1 to have a title-winning run this week.

In the same side of the draw, another of our 2020-listed players, Jannik Sinner is available at a top-price 20/1

The 18-year-old Italian starts his season here, making his first appearance since winning the ATP Next Gen Finals at the end of last year. Another player on the up – currently ranked No.78, having been outside the Top 500 just 12 months ago – Sinner is one to keep on side right from the off in 2020.

If they both have a good week, Hurkacz and Sinner could meet in the semi finals.

All depends in Adelaide…

The top of the ATP Adelaide (hard court, ATP 250 grade event) betting is dominated by players that had busy weeks last week.

Especially the two favourites, Alex De Minaur (ATP Cup semi finals with Australia) and Andrey Rublev (won ATP Doha). At 7/2 (4.50) and 4/1 respectively, I wouldn’t want to be putting all my eggs in the basket.

If those guys end up pulling out, then the Adelaide draw could open up. This is a new tournament on the ATP Tour. We could have a dabble in the next couple of days, once the 1st round shapes up.

Stick with Sonya…

At the women’s Premier grade version of this event, the WTA Adelaide draw features plenty of big names – and short prices…

Namely World No.1 Ashleigh Barty (7/2), who suffered a 1st round defeat in her season-opener last week. And Wimbledon champion Simona Halep, who makes her first appearance of 2020, with the bookies making the Romanian around 5/1.

Last week we got 20/1 for our Ones to Watch in 2020 pick, Sofia Kenin. She came close against reigning Australian Open champ Noami Osaka, going down 2-1 in the 2nd round. Osaka went on to reach the semis.

This week the American is half those odds, at 10/1. But looking at the draw, that looks alright to me. Kenin can’t meet Barty until the semi final stage, and Halep until the final.

This time last year, ‘Sonya’ – as she is often known – was over at the smaller tournament in Hobart, winning the title at 18/1. Kenin has won two more WTA titles since then. I expect there to be more to come, and sooner rather than later.

16/1 shot in Hobart…

The WTA Hobart draw (hard court, International grade event) looks the most wide-open of the week…

There are no genuinely scary names in the draw. The top two seeds, Elise Mertens (7/2) and Garbine Muguruza (8/1) are ranked No.17 and No.35 respectively. Both are hard to trust for form on a week-to-week basis.

For a bigger price, I’m happy to stick with following our nominated Ones to Watch in 2020 players here, with Veronika Kudermetova a 16/1 shot to build on her noteworthy end to 2019.

Climbing up the rankings year on year so far, the 22-year-old Russian ended last season with semi-final and quarter-final runs at hard court events.

If she can get past 35-year-old Aussie veteran Sam Stosur in the 1st round on Monday morning (match scheduled 7am) – and the bookies make her a 2/5 (1.40) favourite to do so – then Kudermetova can put together another tournament run this week.

Ones to Watch:

Outright Winner picks – Each Way

ATP Auckland:

  • Hubert Huckacz is 9/1 with Bet365, Boylesports, 8/1 William Hill, Ladbrokes, Coral
  • Jannik Sinner is 20/1 with Paddy Power, Betfair Sportsbook, 16/1 Skybet, 14/1 Bet365, Boylesports, William Hill

WTA Adelaide:

  • Sofia Kenin is 10/1 with Bet365, Boylesports, 9/1 Skybet, William Hill, NetBet, 10Bet

WTA Hobart:

  • Veronika Kudermetova is 16/1 with Bet365, Boylesports, William Hill, Ladbrokes, Coral, Skybet

Each Way terms: 1/2 odds 1-2 places.

Play starts from 11pm (UK time) in Auckland, and just after Midnight at the other events. Bookies suspend their Outright Winner markets during each day’s matches.

I’ll be back throughout the week with updates from those tournaments. And of course, we’ll be building up to the Aussie Open…

Enjoy the tennis…

Best wishes,

Oliver Upstone

Tom Wilson

Ones to Watch