Tennis Betting Advice - January 2024
Aus Open Day 9: Putting our faith in youth...
Sunday 21st January 2024
Australian Open - Day 9
A big night lies ahead for our tournament picks…
With three Ones to Watch selections each looking to book a place in the quarter finals (original Outright, Each Way price in brackets):
Linda Noskova (100/1+) v Elina Svitolina
Qinwen Zheng (33/1) v Oceane Dodin
Hubert Hurkacz (80/1+) v Arthur Cazaux
While Zheng and Hurkacz are both priced as favourites to win those respective 4th Round matches. Our teenage shining star Noskova - fresh from beating world no.1 Iga Swiatek in the last round - goes off as the underdog against the experienced Svitolina…
That being the case, it’s hard to take too much of a ‘saver bet’ angle against Noskova today, in my opinion. Swiatek’s exit blew the top half of the women’s draw wide open (our player Qinwen Zheng is the highest-ranked player left there) - and the outright prices took a clubbing, too…
The two most-likely women on paper to push on to the final from here on in are Svitolina, and Victoria Azarenka - two of the ‘mums on tour’ that I mentioned back on Day 2. However, those two are no bigger than 12/1 each now. And tennis isn’t played on paper…
I certainly can’t get excited about those 12/1 prospects as Each Way selections, with pretty much all firms now betting at reduced place terms of 1/3 odds for reaching the final… and one of the ominous-looking Coco Gauff or Aryna Sabalenka expected to be waiting in the final come next weekend. (Gauff or Sabalenka would start the final as the favourite to win it, should they get there.)
If you’re keen to protect/ recoup your original stakes on our players at this point, then you could consider opposing them in tonight’s Match Winner markets - staking enough to get the return you desire.
For me, though…
Well. I’m staying aggressive. I’m staying positive. I’m sticking with our players…
Over many years now, Ones to Watch has been built on the success of exciting young players, breaking through for the first time - at big prices.
Somewhere in my loins, something is telling me to hold firm with our players today…
But it won’t be easy. They may face an epic struggle to get over the line…
Because nerves are going to play a big part from here on in, in this open side of the women’s draw. Azarenka is the only former Grand Slam winner (or finalist, for that matter) out of the eight names left standing here…
One of these women will be in the final next weekend:
Victoria Azarenka
Dayana Yastremska (a Ones to Watch name from before the pandemic)
Linda Noskova
Elina Svitolina
Jasmine Paolini
Anna Kalinskaya
Qinwen Zheng
Oceane Dodin
And nerves won’t just come for the newcomers and youngsters. The likes of Svitolina and Azarenka will be feeling it, too.
After a 5/1 winner on Andrey Rublev (3-2) from yesterday’s advice. I’m staying bullish with my approach to the Set Betting markets…
The three Set Betting scores below make up our big-odds attack for tonight & tomorrow morning’s matches - putting our faith in youth…
Dayana Yastremska to win 2-1 v Victoria Azarenka
Linda Noskova to win 2-1 v Elina Svitolina
Qinwen Zheng to win 2-1 v Oceane Dodin
The advice: three singles. And also split a stake four ways across the Trixie (three doubles & a treble)...
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Ones to Watch picks - Australian Open:
Set Betting:
Markets available with all major bookmakers. Best prices with Unibet:
Yastremska to win 2-1 v Azarenka @ 6/1 (7.0)
Noskova to win 2-1 v Svitolina @ 22/5 (5.4)
Zheng to win 2-1 v Dodin @ 29/10 (3.9)
Trixie: Yastremska 2-1, Noskova 2-1, Zheng 2-1 - with the treble @ 146/1
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You can watch the Australian Open live on Eurosport/ Discovery Plus.
Play starts at 1am.
I’ll be back by 5pm tomorrow with your Day 10 email…
Enjoy the tennis…
Best wishes,
Oliver Upstone