If anybody needed to question Serena Williams' desire as she approaches the end of her career, then Williams' victory at the 2017 Australian Open while around nine weeks pregnant gives a resounding answer. Of course, few people would question the motivation of one of tennis' greatest competitors, so there is little surprise that Williams' return to the tour in 2018 was a success.
In terms of titles, it may not be Williams' most glittering season. Yet even being defeated in the final of both Wimbledon and the US Open shows that Williams is still able to mix it with the best. Williams will not be content to bow out with a final defeat, particularly given the manner of the US Open loss to Naomi Osaka. The American stands on the verge of breaking even more records and it would take a brave person to bet against more Grand Slams coming her way.
The fiercest competitors never lose their desire to win, no matter how much time they spend away from the sport. Williams stands alongside an array of big names who have been absent from sport for a variety of reasons, but who didn't miss a step on their return.
Muhammad Ali disappeared from boxing for almost four years after his refusal to fight in the Vietnam War but came back swinging to reclaim the world heavyweight title. Most would have expected Michael Jordan's dabble with baseball to mark the end of his basketball career, but the star returned to win three consecutive titles with the Chicago Bulls. The horse Faugheen is renowned as one of the finest two-mile hurdlers, but saw injury deny racing opportunities for 22 months. On his return, Faugheen powered to victory at the 2017 Morgiana Hurdle. Faugheen may be 8/1 best price to win a race at Cheltenham in 2019, a sharp increase on odds of 4/5 in previous years, but you write off a legend at your peril. Williams can similarly be found at unusually high prices to win the Australian Open, with odds inflated as a result of her time away and her final defeats last year. Yet class is permanent, and the true greats keep finding a way to win. Williams is already considered by many as the finest tennis player of all time, but she stands on the cusp of unquestionably securing that status. Two more Slam titles would take her above Margaret Court's record of 24, also making Williams the oldest tennis player to triumph in a Grand Slam.
That motivation will drive Williams as far as her legs can take her. She has nothing left to prove in her career, but Williams will be desperate to give her fans one last title (preferably two). The seven-time Australian Open champion will be eagerly awaiting the first Slam of 2019.
WTA LUXEMBORG
BOUCHARD TO BEAT BABOS @ 6-5 BETVICTOR, SKYBET, BETWAY
WTA MOSCOW
MERTENS TO BEAT KONTA @ 6-5 SKYBET, LADBROKES, BETViCTOr, CORAL
Head-to-head is tied 1-1 with each winning a match this season so far, Konta has been in desperate form recently winning only 3 of her last 10 matches and looks like she cannot wait for the season to end. Mertens reached the QF at Tianjin last week and will see this as an opportunity to cement her top 20 ranking with a good run here.
WTA LUXEMBOURG
LARSSON TO BEAT SINIAKOVA @ 3.25
Larsson does tend to excel on indoor hard courts where she feels very much at ease as shown by her career win-loss record of 103-47, the h2h record is tied at 2-2 but Larsson has won both meetings this season and 3.25 is far too high a price.
WTA LINZ
UYTVANCK TO BEAT GIORGI @ 13-10
Uytvanck has been in excellent form over the last 12 months on indoor hard courts with a 17-2 win-loss record compared to Giorgi’s 3-0, the serve stats favour Belgium with the return stats favouring Giorgi but I am going with Uytvanck as on this surface this week she has looked at ease and her record backs that up and despite Giorgi leading the h2h 2-0 Uytvanck is the value here.
WTA LINZ
ALEXANDRANOVA TO BEAT SINIAKOVA @ 2.38
Both are very much at home on indoor hard courts but Alexandranova has the edge having won her two matches here already and although Siniakova is very much in form the fact she reached the QF at Wuhan and the beaten finalist at Beijing means the amount of tennis has a danger of catching up with her and against a very capable opponent who is at ease in conditions then I have to favour Alexandranova here at generous odds.
WTA HONG KONG
SHARIPOVA TO BEAT ZHANG @ 5
Sharapova had a fantastic middle part of the season where she reached 3 finals winning 2 and a quarter final on the ITF circuit, a reproduction of that form will make her price look huge here and worth taking a chance on it.
WTA TIANJIN
BOULTER TO BEAT SAKKARI @ 3.25 Sakkari has looked in poor form in her last two tournaments losing in straight sets, Boulter beat Riske and Vecino at Beijing before losing narrowly 7-5 to Flipkens in the third set. And one of my favourite tournaments of the year from Tuesday onwards at Linz
WTA WUHAN
GAVRILOVA TO BEAT STRYCOVA @ 11-10
Strycova leads the head to head 2-0, neither has been in great form recently but the statistics for holding serve and breaking serve are nearly identical. Gavrilova has the more ability if she is on form and I am taking her to finish the season strongly
KERBER TO BEAT KEYS @ 11-10
Kerber leads the head to head 7-2, Kerbers return game will be key here
WTA TASHKENT
KOSTYUK TO BEAT RUS @ 11-10
20-6 compared to 18-11 shows Kostyuk is very much at home on hard courts, she has the better return game than Rus and If Rus serve is a little off then she will be vulnerable as that is a huge weapon to her game.
ZVONAREVA TO BEAT ZIDANSEK @ 11-10
Zidansek is better on clay courts, Zvonareva is a better hard court player and although not operating at the level of old she should have too much nous for Zidansek who is excellent on clay but looks vulnerable on hard courts
KALINSKAYA TO BEAT DANILOVIC @ EVENS
Danilovic has had an excellent season but the majority of her victories have been on clay with a 33-9 record but she does not look as happy on hard courts and against a very exciting player in Kalinskaya then I have to favour the Russian who I expect to be far more comfortable on the surface.
GASPARYAN TO BEAT MARIA @ EVENS
Gasprayan holds serve and break her opponent more than her opponent who really is not happy on hard courts as her record of 9 wins 13 losses in the last 12 months compared to her opponents 20-8 record and she has to be avoided here
WTA GUANGZHOU
PERA TO BEAT PUTINTSEVA @ 21-20
Pera leads the head to head 1-0 having won last month at the US Open and I see no reason why the result will be any different today, as she has more power than Putintseva and I would expect her to make inroads on her opponents serve regularly
HOLD SERVE BREAK SERVE
PERA 66.4% 34.6%
PUTINTSEVA 59.5% 37%
WTA SEOUL
BEGU TO BEAT SAKKARI @ 7-4
Begu leads the head to head 1-0 winning on hard court in 2016 at Miami. This is the first bit of form Begu has showed for weeks impressively beating Barthel and Radwanska dropping just 9 and 7 games respectively in her straight sets wins. Sakkari reached the final at San Jose end of July but since then her form has dipped although she won her first two matches here in impressive fashion although one was against clay specialist Schmiedlova and a not 100% fit Gasprayan
HOLD SERVE BREAK SERVE
BEGU 63% 35%
SAKKARI 63% 39.9%
WTA Tokyo
Vanderweghe To Beat Barty @ 5-2
Riske To Beat Bouchard @ 11-10
Diyas To Beat Strycova @ 11-10
Vekic To Beat Stephens @ 7-4
Pavlyuchenkova To Beat Garcia @ 6-5
Cibulkova To Beat Osaka @ 2-1
WTA HIROSHIMA
KOZLOVA TO BEAT DIYAS @ 4.40
Diyas leads the head to head 2-1, stats are very similar so to be getting 4.40 on Kozlova is a crazy price and one I am more than happy to accept
HOLD SERVE BREAK SERVE
KOZLOVA 65.2% 40.2%
DIYAS 64.7% 40.3%
ZIDANSEK TO BEAT LINETTE @ 2.55
Zidansek leads the head to head 2-0 but these were both on clay, Zidansek has struggled to replicate her clay form on hard courts on the main tour but dropping Down to the ITF tour she is every bit as good and if she can start to translate that then she will make inroads on this surface on the main tour. Linette while a neat and accomplished player does not have the power to hit through Zidansek here and I expect the younger player to settle into this match and make the head to head 3-0
HOLD SERVE BREAK SERVE
ZIDANSEK 66.4% 46.8%
LINETTE 67.0% 35.5%
