Tennis Betting Advice - July 2023
Anything can happen... and it usually does!
Friday 28th July 2023
Anything can happen… and it usually does!
So goes the famous saying from the late, great Murray Walker.
Unpredictability is one of the things we love about sport.
Conversely, I’ve spent most of my working life actively trying to predict the outcome of sporting events…
The thing I‘ve learnt along the way is to always believe in the seemingly impossible. Or as I put it to my horse-racing colleague Nick Pullen recently: I always think the ‘magic’ thing can happen…
And I don’t just think this out of blind faith, or stupidity. The evidence is there, right in front of our eyes, time after time after time…
Take Wimbledon earlier this month, of course…
Marketa Vondrousova had never previously been beyond the 2nd round at SW19. She went off this year as a 150/1 rank outsider. We were pleased to get on halfway through the tournament, at still-chunky odds of 40/1 and 33/1.
Or what about last week at WTA Budapest…
Russian teenager Maria Timofeeva LOST in the Qualifying rounds. Only to be parachuted into the main draw as a Lucky Loser… and go on to WIN the whole thing!
And that’s not even the first time this season that a Lucky Loser has got to a final. Jan-Lennard Struff did it at ATP Madrid in May. He started that event as a huge 200/1 underdog. We got on him along the way, at 35/1 or 33/1 Each Way.
And don’t forget about match-point-saving magic moments, too. Which can be the source of some amazing in-play turnarounds in the betting markets. As well as some great stories…
At last year’s US Open, Carlos Alcaraz saved a match point in the quarter finals. He went on to lift the trophy; his first Grand Slam title - and the rest is history.
This week alone, we’ve seen a couple of crazy scoreboard comebacks…
In the men’s, at ATP Atlanta on Thursday night, Dan Evans lost from 6-2, 5-3 up. At one stage, he had three consecutive match points. Evans went on to lose, 2-6, 7-6, 6-4 against Dominik Koepfer. The British player also blew a 4-1 lead in the final set.
On the women’s tour, there was an arguably even more unlikely comeback in Warsaw this week. With recent French Open finalist Karolina Muchova (herself a giant 100/1 outsider there in Paris). Beaten this week from 5-1 up in the third set against world no.174 Rebecca Sramkova - including four missed opportunities on match point.
Again:
Anything can happen… and it usually does!
A big-odds reminder at 50/1…
We’ve hit a blank with our last couple of Each Way picks. But we’ll be bouncing back into action soon. There are five tournaments on the schedule for next week…
Last but not least for today. A big-odds reminder…
Back in March, we backed Taylor Fritz as One to Watch at 33/1 for the US Open.
The trip to New York is getting closer, with the fourth Grand Slam of the year starting on August Bank Holiday weekend…
Fritz flopped for us at Wimbledon. But he’ll be happy to be back playing on the hard courts in the USA for the rest of the summer. He’s still available at 33/1 Each Way in general for the US Open. As I write, Boylesports, Unibet & BetUK are now a standout 50/1, with BetVictor at 40/1. Get on if you can…
I’ll be back next week with more big-price picks and analysis for you.
Enjoy the tennis…
P.S
Want to get in touch? Email me at: oliver.upstone@oxonpress.co.uk
Best wishes,
Oliver Upstone