TENNIS BETTING TIPS: SODERLING VS BENNETEAU
William Hill has rolled out odds on the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament quarterfinals and with several standout players squaring off for a spot in the semis, there are plenty angles for profit to be had. One billing worthy of note is between Robin Soderling and Julien Benneteau and this clash definitely promises some scintillating bets.
Soderling, the indoor hard court guru as some would have him, enters the match as the solid favourite carrying a price of 2/7. Frenchman Julien Benneteau, a seasoned veteran better known for his victory over Roger Federer at the Paris Masters last year (indoor) in October, comes in at mere 5/2 odds.
Soderling has the significant ranking advantage (top ten) and the slim 3-2 head-to-head advantage and for all intended purposes, he is considered the smart bet. Yet, I can’t help being sceptical. Put it this way, Soderling only just found his stride in Rotterdam, stringing together his first winning streak on the season and ... wait for it...drum roll... his winning streak was made up of two, yes, TWO-consecutive matches. And they weren’t pretty wins either.
What we have here is a case of a top ten player that is circumspect. Whether a case of early season yips; pressure and expectation, he felt to be overwhelming; or just one of those days when you are soundly beaten by another player, caused him to come up blank in January. I don’t know for certain, but I am leaning towards competitive paralysis and I cannot help but feel things are going to get worse before they get better for him.
That said if Soderling is your man and you are confident he is going to turn things around in Rotterdam, then, by all means, pile on top of his outright odds to win. Also, take a gander through the peripheral markets where he is trading at 8/11 to win in straights and 16/5 to win 2-1. The way he has been playing – and believe you me when I say I could barely watch for how badly he struggled – the latter is your better option. I see a three-setter in this one. Speaking of which, Sets, that is, the odds on the number of sets in the match, is trading at 13/8 for 3 sets.
Punters looking to buck the trend might well like Benneteau for the outright win at 5/2. The odds are reasonable and the bet itself would not be outrageous. In fact, Benneteau to win in straight sets is listed at mere 5/1 odds and to win in three sets at slightly larger 11/2 odds. He is not priced out of the market. If that is not proof positive of a viable chance to mastermind the upset I don’t know what is.
The first set is going for 7/4 in favour of Benneteau and 2/5 for Soderling. Other "Sets" markets like determining the score is where it gets interesting, as the odds on both players, irrespective of the score, are somewhat large. Certainly, money is to be made in this market.
Naturally, Benneteau is trading at larger prices than Soderling but backers of each player will like what is on offer either way. Benneteau to win the first set 6-4 carries a lucrative 17/2 price while Soderling to win by the same score is listed at 7/2. A 7-5 or 7-6 win by Benneteau is going for 20/1 and 17/2 respectively. In Soderling’s case the same scores, in the same order, are flying off the books at 11/1 and 11/2.