The Overrule: ATP Washington & WTA San Diego, Copenhagen

By Sports Magician

ATP WASHINGTON

A host of top players who are either out of form or are playing in their first tournament since Wimbledon (at least on a hard court) make up the draw for Washington in preparation for the US Open. Tomas Berydch returns to the tour for the first time since reaching his first Grand Slam final and enters as number one seed. In what is a big field for a tour event, it’s hard for us to consider backing the Czech as a short priced favourite given his lack of match practice. In the top half of the draw, we see John Isner, Fernando Verdasco and Ernests Gulbis join Berdych as the likely contenders.

Verdasco has taken a well-needed break from the tour in the past couple of weeks and if, as hoped, the layoff has refreshed his batteries, he appeals to us in the each-way market. Andy Roddick is essentially the joint favourite for the tournament and resides in the bottom half of the draw, but the American hasn’t looked good since returning to the tour at the French Open. An American who has looked good is Mardy Fish. Fish has dropped over a stone in weight and is reaping the rewards of his better conditioning, having won back-to-back titles in Newport (grass) and Atlanta (hard).

Fish and Marin Cilic are drawn in the same mini-section of the draw and I find it hard to separate the two of them in terms of who might stand the greater chance of coming out of this half. Cilic hasn’t played well since the early part of the season, but he is not to be ignored at the current price.

PICK: 1*(EACH-WAY) FERNANDO VERDASCO WIN WASHINGTON (1/2 ODDS 1-2 PLACES) @ 12.00 (BOYLESPORTS)

PICK: 1*MARDY FISH WIN WASHINGTON @ 17.00 (BETFRED)

PICK: 1*MARIN CILIC WIN WASHINGTON @ 19.00 (BWIN)

WTA SAN DIEGO

The Overrule enters the WTA event in San Diego off the back of a very successful tournament in Stanford where we backed Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova each-way. Azarenka destroyed Sharapova in the final, further emphasising what the Overrule has been saying about the potential of Vika to become a world number one. Azarenka rightly heads the betting in San Diego, but we will avoid her this week as it is very difficult to back up one title win with another – especially since Vika is likely to be partying hard as not only did she win the title on the weekend, she also turned 21.

Jelena Jankovic is top seed for the event, which much like Stanford; is a small draw packed with a lot of top players. There are some very intriguing first round matches that will be worth watching – if the WTA actually allows any feeds for the event other than the ones they force us to pay the privilege for! Nadia Petrova and Svetlana Kuznetsova both look over priced in my opinion, particularly Sveta who despite being in poor form for much of the season; is just a few confidence boosting wins away from making a mockery of that price.

PICK: 1.5*(EACH-WAY) SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA WIN SAN DIEGO (1/2 ODDS 1-2 PLACES) @ 23.00 (STAN JAMES)

PICK: 0.75*(EACH-WAY) NADIA PETROVA WIN SAN DIEGO (1/2 ODDS 1-2 PLACES) @ 21.00 (PADDY POWER)

WTA COPENHAGEN

Due to the strength of the field in San Diego, we are naturally left with a less competitive field in Copenhagen. Caroline Wozniacki will be determined to win this event, which celebrates its first birthday. The Dane hasn’t played since Wimbledon – if you can believe that! Wozniacki spent much of the first half of the season playing too often, even when she was clearly injured, and I expect her to come out guns a blazing in Denmark. 

Na Li represents the greatest threat to Wozniacki, in fact the match-up would not suit Caro, at all. Li’s insistence on going for all out winners – all the time – is very much a boom/bust style of tennis. If she is on, she could blow Wozniacki off the court, but if not, it could be unforced error after unforced error. They can’t meet until the final, and since Li has some players in her half who could pose her some problems, it’s not a match-up we will worry about from the outset.

PICK: 4*CAROLINE WOZNIACKI WIN COPENHAGEN @ 2.02 (BETFAIR)

Sports Magician