WTA Charleston (5th April)

WTA CHARLESTON 

PERA TO BEAT CORNET @ 11-10 

Cornet is far too unreliable to be taking odds on about especially against a player who is very much at home on clay and faster clay of Charleston. 

VIKHLYANTSEVA V DIYAS OVER 21.5 GAMES @ EVENS 

PETKOVIC TO BEAT PUTINTSEVA @ 7-4 

DAVIS V BRENGLE OVER 22.5 GAMES @ 5-4 

Two players lacking power but happy to grind out results here points to overs 

WTA BOGOTA 

FRIEDSAM V TOMOVA OVER 22.5 GAMES @ 6-5 

SCHMIEDLOVA V BOLSOVA OVER 21.5 GAMES @ EVENS 

Both players are happy on clay with Schmiedlova coming back into the sort of for of three/ four years ago when she was a force on clay, Bolsova is also at home on clay and while Schmieldova should come through I suspect it will be tighter than the odds suggest.

ZIDANSEK V KALINSKAYA OVER 21.5 GAMES @ EVENS 

Zidansek leads the head to head 1-0 winning last season in straight sets on hard courts, both are happy on clay courts as shown by career win loss records of 57-33 for Kalinskaya and 107-40 for Zidansek.

The First Woman to take Part in the Grand National 1977

It may seem a long time ago. 

1977.

I was just seven years of age. A 70s child with long hair, shirts with big collars and my favourite toy was an action man with flexible hands. 

For horse racing fans it was a vintage year. A historic day when Red Rum, trained by Ginger McCain, in the ownership of Noel Le Mare, won the Grand National for the third time ridden by Tommy Stack.

It was a day when a legend came into being. Red Rum the only horse to win the National three times (1973, 1974 & 1977). 

The 1977 Grand National was historic for another. It was the first time a female jockey competed. Charlotte Brew rode her own horse Barony Fort . This was as much to do with the passing of the Sex Discrimination Act 1975. Horse and jockey qualified for entry of the Grand National because Barony Fort finished fourth in the Fox Hunters Chase. 

He refused to jump the 27th fence, just four fences from competing the most grueling contest for horse and jockey.

However, her achievement paved the way for female riders to compete at the highest level.

Times are changing, for the better.

The old days of limitation which saw hundreds of male jockeys ride to success are being surpassed by a league of female riders who relish the opportunity to compete.

Katie Walsh has set the level for others to achieve after she finished third on Seabass in the 2012 Grand National. 

Watch this fascinating video detailed by Betway which tells the history of female jockeys in the Grand National. 

It's only a matter of time before the Grand National tells its greatest story. The first female jockey to win the race of races.     

Get ready for the Aintree Grand National on the 10th April 2021. 

WTA MIAMI PLISKOVA TO BEAT PEGULA @ 11-8

WTA MIAMI 

PLISKOVA TO BEAT PEGULA @ 11-8 

Pliskova has struggled for form this season and lost twice to Pegula this season both in straight sets and both easily but in her last match here there was shoots of recovery as she served well and her groundstrokes seemed to have more fizz about them and her best form is better than Pegula and at today’s generous odds she is worth taking a chance on to continue her recovery into form. 

SAMSONOVA TO BEAT SAKKARI @ 11-5 

Samsonova has been in excellent form of late especially in her last two matches here beating Giorgi and Bertens both in straight sets and could overpower Sakkari here at generous odds.

Another Belarusian in the last 16 in Miami 🇧🇾@SabalenkaA takes down Kudermetova in straight sets.#MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/icxPgMohW2

— wta (@WTA) March 27, 2021

WTA MIAMI (2021)

WTA MIAMI 

AJLA TOMLVANOVIC + 4.5 GAMES TO BEAT NAOMI OSAKA @ 8-5 Osaka has been in stunning form pretty much winning everything she competes in but has not played since winning the Australian Open so there is a chance she will be a little rusty, Tomljanovic has a good serve and powerful groundstrokes although she can become a little hesitant at the pressure points during a match but she defeated her highly regarded opponent Potapova in straight sets here and I am happy to take a chance at generous odds that she can keep it close against Osaka. 

PAULA BADOSA GIBERT + 3.5 GAMES TO BEAT ONS JABEUR @ 21-20 Badosa leads the head to head 1-0 winning in three sets back at the US Open in 2015. Gibert will look to take the game away from Jabeur with her attacking ground strokes and I expect this to be a close match with Jabeur’s defensive skills and her variation keeping her in the match so am happy to take Gibert with the handicap. 

CIRSTEA + 3.5 GAMES TO BEAT ANETT KONTAVEIT @ 27-20 Kontaveit leads the head to head 3-0 although two of these matches have been close tewo set matches losing by just four games.When Cirstea is good she can be very good as her all out attacking game and decent serve can cause opponents huge problems the problem being she is so inconsistent. Kontaveit hits the ball flat and hard and it will likely be a match of few rallies and the head to head shows it will likely be close and with a little bit of luck Cirstea can keep it close enough to cover her handicap.

WTA Monterry (17th March)

WTA MONTERREY 

JUVAN V TORMO OVER 21.5 GAMES @ 11-10 WILLIAM HILL 

Both have recent 7-3 win loss records and record on hard courts over recent times are Tormo 19-14 Juvan 18-9. Juvan holds serve on average 10% more than Tormo on hard courts but this is slightly offset by the fact that Tormo has an excellent return game and breaks her opponent on average 7% more often than Juvan. This has the makings of a very close match and one that should cover the totals.

WTA ST Petersburg (15th March)

WTA ST PETERSBURG 

OUTRIGHT - Looks a wide open tournament but unfortunately two of the players I fancy to lift the trophy are drawn against each other in the first round! Kristina Mladenovic has a good record here having won the tournament in 2017 and being a runner up in 2018 her strong serve suits this service and despite not being in great recent form she is the type of player who just pulls a shock result out of the bag. Margarita Gasparyan has an excellent indoor hard courts win loss record of 78-39 throughout her career and unfortunate her career has been stalled by injuries but she still has a 55-30 win los record in her home country and is more than capable of going on a run here and unfortunately she faces Maldenovic in her first match but instead of choosing which player to pick I am just accepting one goes out here as at the prices I am happy to accept that. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova is another player with an excellent 84-39 indoor hard court win loss record and in her home country she also has a good 47-24 win loss record and has to be on the shortlist to go far here. 

ANASTASIA PAVLYUCHENKOVA 10-1 

KRISTINA MLADENOVIC 25-1 

MARGARITA GASPARYAN 50-1 

KASATKINA V TAUSON OVER 22.5 GAMES @ 6-5 

Both have excellent indoor hard court records and both been in very good form with Tauson winning her last two tournaments she has competed in and also winning two matches here so far although I am a little weary of all the recent tennis catching up with her a little. Kasatkina also won a tournament in Australia although she did lose in the first round in Dubai in her most recent tournament. I think this has the makings of a 3 set match with Tauson starting fast before Kasatkina coming on strongly in the latter part of the match. 

ZAVATSKA V GASANOVA OVER 22.5 GAMES @ 59-50 

Zavatska is more at home on clay as shown by her win loss record of 24-20, Gasanova has a win loss record of 20-19. Both players have very similar records and while I favour Gasanova for the win I think they are both very difficult to separate so overs is the value call here. 

WTA MONTERRY OUTRIGHT - 

Similar to St Petersburg this looks a wide open tournament as shown by 6-1 the field and I am going to go for a proven performer at big price to chance they have a going week and bounce into some form. The selection is HEATHER WATSON previous winner here in 2016 she has not played since Australian Open so will be well rested and although may be vulnerable in her first match as long as she comes through that then she has the consistent game in this field that could help her go far in the tournament as the field is made up of alot of unpredictable players. 

HEATHER WATSON 20-1 

ANN LI V ARANTXA RUS OVER 21.5 GAMES @ 2.21 (PINNACLE)

Li leads the head to head 1-0 winning in three sets at last years US Open, Li is more at home on hard courts as her win loss record shows but Rus has a good serve and although unlikely to win she should be able to keep this very tight and cover the total games.

KALINSKAYA V PODOROSKA OVER 21.5 GAMES @ 2.11 (PINNACLE) 

Almost identical win loss % record on outdoor hard courts with Kalinskaya 9-8 over the last 12 months and 56-31 through her career compared to Podoroska 5-5 and 89-53 through her career. Kalinskaya hold serve around 6% more than her opponent but her opponents breaks on average 5% more often so all in it looks a very even contest so over is the call.

WTA Dubai (12th March)

WTA DUBAI 

MUGURUZA V MERTENS OVER 21.5 GAMES @ 26-25 (UNIBET) 

Muguruza leads the head to head 1-0 having won at the US Open back in 2016 in three sets. Both players had very tough matches yesterday coming through in three sets. Both were very similar in that they just waited for their opponent to drop their level a bit to then pounce and it happened when Mertens opponent Pegula was serving for the match and also happened when Muguruza’s opponent Sabalenka’s level just dropped mid way through the second set and Muguruza took advantage. Both players were playing good quality tennis and another tough match looks on the cards today. Statistics wise they are very similar with Muguruza 23-7 win loss records and Mertens 34-9 with hold of service games 75.3% compared to Mertens 74.1% and break of opponents Muguruza 44.2% compared to Mertens 45% over the last 12 months so everything points towards a tight match picking the winner is tough so the value call has to be overs as both players are mentally tough and wont be giving in at any point during the game.

WTA Dubai (11th March)

WTA DUBAI 

POTAPOVA TO BEAT KREJCIKOVA @ 13-10 

MUGURUZA V SABALENKA OVER 24.5 GAMES @ 13-10 

MERTENS TO BEAT PEGULA EVENS

WTA Dubai (8th March)

WTA DUBAI 

PAOLO BADOSA GIBERT TO BEAT TEICHMANN @ 6-4 

Gibert reached the semi finals at Lyon last week and has a decent hard court win loss record of 70-40. Teichmann also last time she was on court reached the semi finals at Adelaide but her record on hard courts is not as impressive at 51-50 and she is far more a ease on clay. 

POTAPOVA TO BEAT SIEGMUND @ EVENS 

Siegmund far more at home on clay as shown by her 98-97 win loss record on hard courts, Potapova also seems to prefer clay but has a better record on hard courts than Siegmund and has the better game to adapt to different surfaces. I expect breaks of serve to be numerous here and a great trading match but favour Potapova as odds against in what could be a close match 

GARCIA + 3.5 GAMES TO BEAT KERBER @EVENS 

Kerber leads the head to head 6-2 on outdoor hard courts it becomes 3-1, neither player has been in very good form with both of them recording 4-6 win loss records over their last ten matches. Garcia has a far better serve than Kerber who is always vulnerable on serve but to counter this Kerber when on form has an outstanding return game but currently she does not look too high on confidence which I think will help Garcia settle into her service games and she could rove hard to break. Not sure of the winner here but am happy to take Garcia + 3.5 games as I believe her service will keep this tight.

WTA Dubai (8th March)

WTA DUBAI 

PERA TO BEAT SEVASTOVA @ 6-4 

Over the last 12 months Sevastova has struggled on hard courts with a win loss record of 4-8 compared to Pera’s 9-9. Pera is also ahead on both service hold and the percent she breaks her opponent. Sevastova is very clever, intelligent player but on this occasion I feel Pera will have too much power on this surface.

ALEXANDROVA TO BEAT GAUFF @ EVENS 

Both players have similar records, Gauff been in good form reaching the semi finals in her last tournament at Adelaide, I am going to side with Alexandranova in what is a bit of a coin toss of a match as I feel she is the more consistent as currently Gauff can be brilliant one day but tends to be a little erratic.

WTA Doha (6th March)

WTA DOHA

KVITOVA TO BEAT MUGURUZA @ 11-8 

Kvitova leads the head to head 4-1 having won their last four meeting with three of those on hard courts. Both players have almost identical recent win loss records on hard court with Kvitova 7-3 over har last ten and 35-15 over her last 50 hard court matches compared to Muguruza’s 8-2 and 37-13 win loss record. Their respective records in finals reads Muguruza won 10 lost 8 and Kvitova won 34 lost 15 

Both are powerful players and move very well with Muguruza having the better defensive game but Kvitova when she is on form is very difficult to stop with her aggressive attacking game play and I feel this match up favour Kvitova as shown by the head to head and the odds on offer in my opinion are the wrong way around.

WTA DOHA (4th March)

WTA DOHA 

VICTORIA AZARENKA V ELINA SVITOLINA - SVITOLINA 11-10 

Azarenka leads the head to head 3-0 with two of the three matches going three sets and two of the matches on outdoor hard courts. Looking at the recent statistics Svitolina has a 14-4 win loss record and Azarenka the same. The big difference comes in the hold of serve percentage with Svitolina holding 81.6% of the time compared to Azarenka’s 70.4% on the return of serve Svitlina breaks her opponent on average 37% of the time compared to Azarenka’s 44.6% 

WTA LYON 

MLADENOVIC V GASPARYAN - GASPARYAN 11-8 

Gasparyan leads the head to head 1-0 winning their only meeting back in Moscow on indoor courts in straight sets. Indoor hard courts records throughout their career reads Mladenovic 80-43 Gasparyan 78-38.The serve and return stats are very similar with Mladenovic holding serve 68% of the time and Gasparyan 67.2% in terms of return of serve this is the key to this match as Gasparyan has the better return game as shown by her 38.6% break percentage and Mladenovic does rely on her serve which in this match up looks vulnerable to me. 

The Double Below. 

• GOLUBIC TO BEAT GARCIA 11-10 
• VOEGELE + 3.5 GAMES TO BEAT BADOSA 11-10

WTA DOHA (3rd March)

WTA DOHA 

Pavlyuchenkova V Kvitova Over 21.5 Games 10-11 - Kvitova leads the head to head 8-4 on outdoor hard courts that becomes 5-3 to Kvitova but of more interest is the fact that out of the 8 matches 6 have gone to three sets and of the two that were settled in two sets they both totalled 22 games. 

Sabalenka V Muguruza Over 21.5 Games 10-11— Sabalenka leads the head to head 1-0 on outdoor hard courts and this game featured 22 total games as both players are evenly matched.

Jabeur V Pliskova Over 21.5 Games 10-11 - Head to head is tied 1-1 with both games going to three sets and I see no reason why the same wont happen again as the players are very evenly matched and breaks of serve look to be a premium here so even if it is two sets I expect them to be tight sets. 

PLISKOVA V WATSON OVER 22.5 GAMES @ 11-10 UNIBET

PLISKOVA V WATSON OVER 22.5 GAMES @ 11-10 UNIBET 

Watson leads the h2h 2-1 with 2 of the 3 matches played going three sets including here last season. Pliskova has a good serve and is hard to break but does not have an all round game to dismantle her opponents and Watson is steady but lacks power to be able to overpower opponents so I am expecting two close sets possibly a tie break or three sets.