Tennis Betting Advice - May 2020

Back to Germany for an 8am start…

Wednesday 13th May 2020

In your Ones to Watch email today:

  • Tennis Point Exhibition Series #3…
  • Two picks for Thursday…
  • Play starts 8am…

Invited back on court…

I woke up this morning to a WhatsApp message from my friend Jamie, asking me if I was dusting off my tennis racket for a game…

In turns out, in with all the jumble regarding the country’s ‘baby steps’ out of lockdown, I’d missed the latest twist & turn.

The newly revised recreational tennis advice is that in England (but not Scotland or Wales) you can now play singles against someone from outside of your household. Now, that’s different from how the government advice looked on Monday, so make of that what you will…

Anyway, it turns out it’s true, as my local tennis club have sent me no fewer than four emails on the matter today. One of them is asking me for my annual, pro-rata membership fees.

I’m going to wait a while. For one thing, I may be allowed to play on the courts while observing social distancing – but I’m not allowed in the clubhouse to use the toilet…

Tennis Point Exhibition Series #3…

The Germans are leading the way with the return of professional sport. The Bundesliga football is due back this weekend. And the Tennis Point Exhibition Series continues for a third week, starting from Thursday morning.

We’re gradually getting in the swing with these new events. Ones to Watch member Jane emailed me on the topic this week: “Cannot say I am entirely with it, but it no doubt will get less complicated the more you let us know…”

Two picks for Thursday…

The third instalment of that German competition starts tomorrow, from 8am UK time.

The event features 12 players, and runs from Thursday to Sunday.

Alexey Vatutin is a new name on the roster this week. The Russian joins the rank of mostly-German competitors taking part at the Base Tennis club in Höhr-Grenzhausen. It could take him a bit of time to settle into this format.

Vatutin is short odds-on to win his first match, priced at just 1/7 (1.14) to beat the 38-year-old Rameez Junaid, who has so far lost six of his eight matches in the Tennis Point Exhibition Series.

However, the 27-year-old Russian will likely find it tougher against Jan Choinski in the afternoon. Choinski has taken part in both weeks here in Germany, and has shown some decent form, winning a total of 11 out of 16 matches across the fortnight.

Choinski has also proved a decent underdog, recording three victories against the top two of Dustin Brown and Yannick Hanfmann. Priced as the slight outsider in Thursday’s match against Vatutin, Jan represents the value in this match-up. Choinski also has longer recovery time between his two matches on the day one schedule, so that could be in his favour, too.

And in the early match…

The other match I like the look of is the first one on the list tomorrow morning, Dustin Brown v Daniel Altmaier.

Brown is the poster boy for the Tennis Point Exhibition Series, and he’s notched a win-loss record of 11-5. Altmaier beat him 2-1 last week though, in what was a pretty impressive debut run at the event with a 6-2 match win-loss record.

I was impressed by Altmaier’s attitude on court in his win over Choinski last week, where we were on him in the Match Winner market. The 21-year-old German looked like he meant business, and that professional approach can set him in good stead here, and for the future.

Brown is dangerous with his serve and trick-shot abilities, but Altmaier looks a steady opponent and can trouble the 35-year-old veteran again here, at similar odds as in last week’s first encounter.

Looking at the prices & form for the 12 matches on the schedule, these two are my picks for Thursday…

Tennis Point Exhibition Series:

  • Choinski to beat Vatutin is 11/10 (2.10) with BetVictor and in general
  • Altmaier to beat Brown is 4/5 (1.80) with Skybet, 3/4 (1.75) with BetVictor and 8/11 (1.73) in general

Jan Choinski v Alexey Vatutin is scheduled for 2pm. Latest odds here.

Dustin Brown v Daniel Altmaier is the first game of the day, at 8am. Latest odds here.

I’ll be back over the next couple of days with more from Germany.

P.S
Sports broadcasting company Playsight have got their cameras at this event. Last weekend they were showing live streaming of the Tennis Point Exhibition Series matches on their website, under the ‘Live & On Demand’ tab. You just needed to log-in by creating a free account with your email address. Hopefully they’ll be doing the same again this week. Visit the Playsight website here.

Enjoy the tennis…

Best wishes,

Oliver Upstone

Tom Wilson

Ones to Watch