Tennis Betting Advice - January 2021
The season starts here – all set for 6am…
Tuesday 5th January 2021
In your Ones to Watch email today:
Good evening, and Happy New Year…
The new tennis season is about to start. I’m excited. I’m up for it.
Last year was an excellent one for our Ones to Watch players and tournament picks, despite everything that 2020 threw at us.
It’s already looking like 2021 will be tough, too. But we shall continue on our quest. Going after appealing outsiders at attractive Each Way prices.
In doing so, if you choose to follow me, we’ll have more losing weeks than winning ones. That’s a fact. It’s part of the game.
As 50/1 Sofia Kenin and 100/1 Iga Swiatek showed last season, we don’t need many good weeks to make it all worthwhile. And we’ll have plenty of fun along the way…
Your Ones to Watch in 2021 report…
To aid us on that quest, I’ve compiled my new Ones to Watch in 2021 list for you.
This annual report has served us well in recent seasons. Not least last year, with Kenin and Swiatek both on the 2020 roster.
This time, I’ve ramped things up. With a total of 20 young & improving names on my new 2021 list.
That includes the now-traditional five men and five women to watch. Plus, two new features…
With a handful of ‘repeat’ names from previous annual reports, that can shine in 2021 after the shortened and strange 2020 season.
Along with five teenagers, that can climb the rankings and claim a few scalps.
Let’s not forget, this time last year, Iga Swiatek was an 18-year-old with no Senior trophies to her name. She’s now a Grand Slam champion.
Perhaps one of the players in this year’s report will be the source of the next 100/1 winner…
Check out the new list on the link below. You can view it online, save it as a PDF to your device, print it out. Whatever you fancy. We’ll be referring to it throughout the year.
View your Ones to Watch in 2021 report here >>
The season starts here…
Plenty of the names in that new report will be in action this week, in the first tournaments of 2021.
You can view the January calendar on our website here.
On the ATP Tour, the men are at Delray Beach, USA. And Antalya in Turkey. Those two events start on Thursday, and I’ll be giving my take on the early Outright prices on those on Wednesday.
For tonight, though, we need to get to work on the very first tournament of the season. With the women taking to the court from 6am (UK time), at WTA Abu Dhabi…
In a nice move, the WTA Tour have now got the same tournament grading system as the ATP. That means that both women’s and men’s events are now categorised in the same way: 250, 500, and ‘Masters’ 1000 events.
Outright Winner – picks and prices…
WTA Abu Dhabi is a 500-grade event, and as such, attracts plenty of big names.
The field includes Top 10 players such as Sofia Kenin, Elina Svitolina, Karolina Pliskova, and Aryna Sabalenka. Along with World No.12 and multiple Grand Slam winner, Garbine Muguruza.
The bookies, obviously, have those big names at the top of the betting. With the Outright Winner market headed up by Sabalenka at 7/1 & 8/1. With both Kenin and Pliskova at 9/1 each at best (Skybet). And Svitolina and Muguruza topping out at 12/1 and 14/1, respectively.
Two names that you’ll see in our new Ones to Watch in 2021 report are Elena Rybakina and Jennifer Brady…
Both women started like a train last season. With Rybakina reaching the WTA Shenzhen final at 28/1 in January 2020. And Brady posting a semi final and quarter final in her first four events of the year.
This week in Abu Dhabi you can get top prices of 18/1, 16/1 & 14/1 on those two…
In terms of playing in this part of the world, on outdoor hard courts: last February, Rybakina was a finalist in Dubai, and Brady made the semi finals at that event.
Rybakina is in the top half of the Abu Dhabi draw, with Brady in the bottom half. Backing one woman from either side of the drawsheet has served us well in the past. Those 16/1-ish prices fall into the solid if not spectacular category for me. Both women certainly have their best game on hard courts in general.
Teenage chances at fancy prices…
If you’re looking for something more exotic, other women featured on our new OTW 2021 list include a trio of teenagers: 18-year-olds Leylah Fernandez (80/1 Bet365) and Marta Kostyuk (66/1 Skybet), and 16-year-old Coco Gauff (33/1 William Hill).
Of those, and with the draw in mind – Brady could meet Fernandez in the 2nd round – I like the young Canadian, Leylah Fernandez, at the biggest prices…
The left-hander gets a glowing write-up in my new 2021 report. In March of last year, she posted a 100/1 run to the WTA Monterrey final on hard courts.
Leylah has improved since then, and there is much more to come. She’s one youngster in particular that I’d suggest keeping onside of this season, especially when available at prices like these.
Ones to Watch:
These are my first picks of the season…
Outright Winner – Each Way
WTA Abu Dhabi:
Each Way terms: 1/2 odds 1-2 places.
Play starts in Abu Dhabi from 6am, UK time. The bookies will take down their Outright Winner markets during the day’s play.
I’ll be back tomorrow, when we’ll be taking a first dive into the prices for the first two men’s events of the year, ATP Delray Beach and ATP Antalya.
It’s good to be back.
Enjoy the tennis…
P.S
Need to get in touch? Email me at: tom.wilson@oxonpress.co.uk
Best wishes,
Tom Wilson