OTW Extra Email Archive - January 2021
The first results are in...
Thursday 14th January 2021
In your Ones to Watch EXTRA email today:
Price Watch…
The first silverware of 2021 has been dished out. Here’s how the Outright Winner prices went…
Results & pre-tournament odds from week one of the ATP & WTA season:
ATP 250 – Antalya
Winner: A.De Minaur (3/1)
Runner-up: A.Bublik (25/1)
ATP 250 – Delray Beach
Winner: H.Hurkacz (4/1)
Runner-up: S.Korda (28/1)
WTA 500 - Abu Dhabi
Winner: A.Sabalenka (8/1)
Runner-up: V.Kudermetova (50/1)
The favourites claimed the big prizes, at 3/1, 4/1, and 8/1.
But all three runners-up were at very attractive odds, 25/1, 28/1, and 50/1. With Each Way terms of half the odds for reaching the final, a runner-up at those prices is very desirable.
We’ll be keeping tabs on the weekly tournament prices again this season. I record them all on the Calendar page on the Ones to Watch website.
Coming to fruition…
From the names in our new Ones to Watch in 2021 report, Sebastian Korda was the star of the show in week one. Reaching his first final on the Senior tour, at odds of 28/1.
Elsewhere, the youngest man on our 2021 list, Carlos Alcaraz, has qualified for the Australian Open. The 17-year-old won all three of his matches at the Qualifying event held in Doha. Booking his place in the main draw of a Grand Slam for the first time.
And looking back on our annual pre-season lists from the last two years…
OTW 2020 nominee Hubert Hurkacz lifted the Delray Beach trophy last night. After no tournament wins last season, the 23-year-old Polish player has started 2021 with a second career ATP title. Both have come at outdoor hard-courts events in the USA.
Veronika Kudermetova also featured in our 2020 report. The 23-year-old Russian made a flying start to the new season, reaching a first WTA final, as a 50/1 outsider in Abu Dhabi.
OTW 2019 name Alex De Minaur won three ATP titles in 2019, but none in the disrupted 2020 season. The 21-year-old Australian was back to winning ways in week one of 2021, taking the title at Antalya.
Aryna Sabalenka was on our women’s list in 2019. She has started the new season as she ended the last one: winning matches with brutal, dominant, attacking tennis.
The 22-year-old is on a 15-match winning streak on hard courts. After finishing 2020 with back-to-back indoor titles at Ostrava and Linz, the Belarusian added the Abu Dhabi trophy to her cabinet this week.
Aryna won three titles in 2019, and three in 2020 – but has yet to get past the 3rd round at any of the four Grand Slams. A big run at the Australian Open and/ or US Open must be in her sights this year.
Coming up…
The top players are jetting off to quarantine in Australia, in preparation for the first Grand Slam of 2021 which starts in Melbourne on 8th February.
Before that, there are ATP & WTA ‘warm up’ events Down Under, starting from 31st January.
I’ll be in touch with more player & price updates for you, as we build up to the Australian Open.
Enjoy the tennis…
Best wishes,
Tom Wilson