Australian Open 2023 (15th January)

The outright market for the Australian Open looks wide open with a lot of the names at the front of the market having doubts about them so I am looking further down the market for some value to be had.... Veronika Kudermetova 30.0 - One of the best servers in the women’s game and in great form currently although I am sightly put off by her great run in the warm up tournament as I prefer players to have a few days break before a Grand Slam but she could surprise a few and reach the latter stages.

Danielle Collins 44.0 - Losing finalist last year she has had good preparation with reaching the QF in her last tournament and her powerful game if she gets on a roll can be very hard to stop.

Marta Kostyuk 320 - Talented if slightly inexperienced Ukrainian can surprise people this season with her well rounded all court game.

Garbina Muguruza 150 - Reached the final back in 2020 and although her form has been poor for sometime the experience she has at this venue and with all the pressure off she does have the game to make her odds look very silly if she puts it all together.

Barbora Krejcikova 32 - She has had trouble with injuries since her French Open win in 2021 but last season when she was fit and firing she finished the season strongly winning two titles and has the variation and skill to cause problems for any player on tour.

Others players who could well surprise a few at their odds are Karolina Plsikova 130 and Linda Fruhitova at 180 although being only 18 and lacking a lot of main tour experience it will be a tall ask for Linda to win but she can certainly raise a few eyebrows along what should be an exciting season for both her and her even more exciting younger sister Brenda and Anna Kalinskaya who is all out attack and can be very exciting to watch but unlikely to have the consistency over a two week period. Clara Burel is a player who I think will have a very good season but might mainly be on the clay but I am hopeful here she might make it to the second week.

Of the players at the top of the market Sabalenka has the game but not sure she has the mental strength to cope with the pressure of winning a grand slam as will her serve hold up under pressure? Swiatek could meet Collins fairly early and no value at her current price in such a wide open contest and it is not on clay, Garcia overachieved last season and I will be surprised if she can maintain that level.

FIRST ROUND MATCHES

Andreescu V Bouzkova Over 22.5 10-11

Kostyuk V Anisimova Over 22.5 5-6

Tsurenko V Muchova Over 22.5 Evens

Rakhimova V Baindl Over 22.5 5-6

Zhu V Marino Over 22.5 5-6

Vanderweghe 3.30 V Kalinina 1.38

Vanderweghe leads the head to head 1-0, she has a powerful game but has been decimated by Injuries over the last few seasons, Kalininia is a consistent opponent and will likely come through over three sets but is a lay at 1.30 as I expect her price to rise

Kalinskaya 3.05 V Collins 1.36

Win loss records on hard courts are very similar over the last 2 season with Kalinskaya 41-24 compared to Collins 42-17 but are very powerful attacking players but Collins is likely to be the more consistent during the match and come through maybe in three sets or at two close sets but her price looks too short. Lay Collins 1.30

Fruhvirtova 2.91 V Sasnovich 1.43

The younger Fruhvirtova sister is a well known future star and she can cause some problems here for Sasnovich before eventually bowing out, I would expect Sasnovich to come through here by using her greater experience but she will likely trade close to 1.80 in this match if Fruhvirtova starts fast

Kenin 2.88 V Azarenka 1.46

Head to head is tied 1-1 Kenin has started to find some form after a tough couple of years and Azarenka looks far too short a price in this contest considering she only seems to play part time now-Lay Azarenka 1.40