WTA Sony Open Betting: Urszula Radwanska to stroll through to next round

 

With the draw for the WTA Sony Open taking shape, the remainder of the opening round matches conclude on Wednesday providing the top seeds with more answers as to who they are set to face.

 

Former French Open champion Francesca Schiavone begins her tournament tonight against qualifier and world number 90 Jana Cepelova. The Slovakian will be hoping to cause a first round upset, but could find it tough to have much success against her vastly more experienced opponent.

 

Schiavone has struggled to replicate her best form in recent times though, progressing past the first round only once in five attempts on the hard court circuit so far this season. The winner of this clash will face sixth seed Angelique Kerber, and Schiavone remains the favourite to prevail at 1.7.

 

Elsewhere in what is perhaps a closer match to call, world number 52 Monica Niculescu takes on world number 68 Jamie Hampton. The Romanian is a slight favourite to overcome her American counterpart, but the latter will be buoyed by her run at Indian Wells.

 

While Niculescu fell in the second round, Hampton reached the third before losing to Urszula Radwanska, but will take great heart from her performances. The world rankings would suggest that the two are heading in opposite directions, but this one has the hallmarks of being a battle that could go the distance.

 

The aforementioned Radwanska is also in action on Wednesday, when she opens her account against the unseeded German Annika Beck. Seemingly forever in her sister's shadow, Urszula enjoyed a productive journey to the fourth round at Indian Wells before falling to Victoria Azarenka. However, her run did see her defeat the 15th seed Sloane Stephens which will give her plenty of confidence ahead of her campaign in Miami. A win on Wednesday will set up a second round clash with Serbian star Ana Ivanovic.

 

Both Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka will also have a keen eye on proceedings as they await their second round opponents. They will both be confident regardless considering they are guaranteed to face either a wildcard entrant or a qualifier.

 

Sharapova will come up against either Eugenie Bouchard or Shahar Peer, with the latter receiving generous odds as the outsider, while Azarenka awaits the winner of the Madison Keys and Allie Kiick match.

 

Canadian wildcard entrant Bouchard faces Israeli qualifier Peer, with a potential encounter with the in-form Russian adding an extra dimension to this tie. Bouchard defeated Peer in three sets when the two met on her home soil at the Rogers Cup in Montreal last year. The slightly more experienced Israeli will look to exact revenge in this encounter, and may be a good bet to advance over the course of three sets.

 

In this evening's final encounter, American teenagers Keys and Kiick face one another for the opportunity to advance to a second-round meeting with number two seed Azarenka. Separated by just four months in age but 350 WTA ranking positions, Keys is likely to have the edge in what promises to be a high-energy affair. With both players eager to impress an expectant home crowd and the prospect of facing Azarenka at stake, expect this clash to go the distance, with Keys to go through in three sets.

 

Recommended Bets:

Hampton vs Niculescu to go three sets @ 2.52

Radwanska to beat Beck 2-0 @ 1.88

Peer to beat Bouchard @ 2.16

Schiavone -2.5 games vs Cepelova @ 1.89

Keys to beat Kiick 2-1 @ 2.84

 

Bet HERE

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