OTW Extra Email Archive - June 2019
Wimbledon – Ones to Watch at 100/1...
Wednesday 19th June 2019
In your Ones to Watch EXTRA email today:
Two to follow at SW19...
The French Open pretty much summed-up the ups & downs of ‘Ones to Watch’ betting.
We had two pre-tournament, big-price outsider picks for the Women’s title. Anett Kontaveit lost in the very first round. Marketa Vondrousova got all the way to the final...
As a 40/1 Each Way pick, that runner-up finish from 19-year-old Vondrousova gave us a 20/1 place payout.
The Women’s Grand Slams have been ‘wide open’ for some time now. Ashleigh Barty’s (22/1) French Open victory means nine of the last 10 Slams have seen a different name on the trophy.
Wimbledon is next...
In the Men’s, we’ve already flagged up two big servers with Wimbledon ‘previous.’ Tomas Berdych (fitness permitting) will line up as a 100/1 underdog. And I’m on record as liking Nick Kyrgios’ chances as a 30/1 shot. As Nick said himself recently, he’s one of the best grass court players in the world – if he can just hold it together mentally.
In the Women’s, I’m backing Belinda Bencic to have a good Wimbledon and grass court campaign. We got on Belinda early, at top prices of 120/1 and 80/1. She’s now 25/1+, and with the Women’s field looking as open as it does, I’d still recommend backing Bencic now if you’re not already on her.
From the five men on our overall Ones to Watch in 2019 list, I’d earmark Stefanos Tsitsipas (20/1) and Daniil Medvedev (50/1) as the most likely to do well at SW19 next month.
For today though I want to get two women in the book at huge prices...
The Surbiton-Ilkley connection...
The French Open saw several young players breaking through. Barty (age 24), Vondrousova (19) and Amanda Anisimova (17) all made their Grand Slam semi final debuts.
From the five women on the above Ones to Watch in 2019 list, Dayana Yastremska is the youngster with the biggest potential to be a dangerous outsider at Wimbledon 2019...
The 19-year-old Ukrainian is currently No.35 in the world rankings and looks every inch a future Top 10 player.
Yastremska has already won two tournaments this season, claiming the WTA Hua Hin title on hard courts in January and the WTA Strasbourg title on clay in May.
Dayana is very much on the up, and although she’s still hit & miss as she aims to add consistency to her game – her power and shot-making ability is there for all to see…
As I’ve said before, Yastremska is the kind of streaky power-player that will blast her way through the draw on a good week. She’s won three WTA titles to date and on each occasion she reached the final without dropping a set.
These days we’re seeing players win trophies on all surfaces. Yastremska has the serve, raw power and flat shots to do damage on a skidding grass court. She has a serious will to win (we’re talking fist-pumping an opponent’s Double Fault). And when Dayana is firing on her A-game, she’s sensational to watch.
In terms of significant grass court form, Yastremska made the final at the lower-tier ITF Ilkley event last June...
For younger and lower-ranked players, Ilkley is one of the key grass court tournaments in the build-up to Wimbledon. ITF Surbiton is the other. Magdalena Rybarikova is our second One to Watch pick today and the Slovakian has an intriguing form line at those events...
Age 30, Rybarikova makes the list as a grass court specialist. She made the semi finals at Wimbledon two years ago. That 2017 run came straight after a noteworthy June double-header where she won the titles at both at Surbiton & Ilkley.
Last summer Magdalena didn’t take that route, choosing to play the higher-tier WTA schedule instead. This season she’s mixed it up between the WTA & ITF – including a run to the Surbiton final 10 days ago...
Rybarikova is back at Ilkley this week. She plays her 1st Round match this afternoon, where she is a 1/6 (1.17) favourite to beat Conny Perrin. If Rybarikova has another good run at Ilkley this week then that pre-Wimbledon form line will be looking very similar to her stellar summer of 2017.
I’ll be back soon with more on Wimbledon. The big one starts on 1st July.
Enjoy the tennis...
Best wishes,
Tom Wilson