It’s expected a very hot day in Melbourne this Tuesday with the temperatures close to 35ºC. Bookmakers Review breaks down the fixtures below and lists the best available odds from green listed bookmakers.
Watson vs. Stosur
This match is scheduled for the Margaret Court Arena with Heather Watson and Samantha Stosur fighting for a place in the 2nd round.
Despite all her previous success on Grand Slam events with the US Open title in 2011 and the French Open final in 2010, Stosur’s numbers in Melbourne are absolutely terrible. Since she became a top player, Samantha’s record on Australian soil is absolutely terrible. Her previous match is a good example of that with Stosur winning only four games in her match against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in Sydney.
Watson made a great campaign on the Australian Open back in 2013 – losing only in the 3rd round against Agnieszka Radwanska. However, the British lost the following three matches on this event’s main draw. Despite Heather’s poor results in Melbourne, she’s always a very tough opponent to beat.
Looking to the bookmakers analysis for this game, Stosur is priced as slight favorite at 4/5 at William Hill while Pinnacle offers 109/100 for Watson’s victory. Due to Sam’s terrible record in her home country, the value is definitely on Heather. Therefore, playing Watson to win is clearly the best betting approach for this encounter.
Wickmayer vs. Safarova
Two players famous for their firepower will face each other this Tuesday in Melbourne Park – Yanina Wickmayer and Lucie Safarova.
The last years haven’t been easy for Wickmayer with the Belgian ending the last four seasons outside the top 45. Despite her lack of success in recent years, Yanina is still a very dangerous player, especially on this event where she holds a solid 14 – 9 record. Famous for her powerful groundstrokes, Wickmayer can create problems to anyone on the tour in a good day.
Despite her undeniable quality, Safarova is also one of the most inconsistent players on the WTA Tour. After reaching the world no.5 spot in 2015, Lucie is currently outside the top 60 with the Czech winning only 22 of her last 50 matches. Safarova is clearly struggling to find her best tennis, which makes her a very vulnerable player.
There isn’t much separating these two players. Both possess a tremendous firepower but also the inability to perform at a consistent level. In a match like this, the value is always in the underdog, which makes Wickmayer the right play at 69/50 at Ladbrokes while Safarova is available at 57/100 at Coral. Although we believe Yanina can get the job done, the best option is to take her +1.5 Set Handicap at 73/100 at Pinnacle.
Calculators
