CAROLINE WOZNIACKI is no stranger to tough draws in 2015 and today she faces another as she begins her Dubai Championships campaign against Sam Stosur.
Wozniacki is back in the world's top five for the first time in three years but at last month's Australian Open she landed Victoria Azarenka in round two and promptly crashed out. Now she's hoping for a longer run in the Emirates where she's fourth favourite for the title at 8-1 with Coral.
The Dane had a bye in the opener and is 1-2 at Betfred to progress past former US Open champ Stosur, who's chalked up at 7-4 by Ladbrokes.
Ana Ivanovic – a 10-1 title shot at bet365 – faces Sabine Lisicki in an intriguing clash and is
2-5 at Skybet against the 9-4 German.
There's plenty more top tennis action on Tuesday and Rafa Nadal plays his first match since the Australian Open when he tackles home favourite Thomaz Bellucci at the ATP Rio.
Elsewhere there's more early-round matches at the Welsh Open snooker – where Shaun Murphy suffered a shock early exit yesterday – plus Afghanistan v Bangladesh in the Cricket World Cup in the early hours.
Good luck with your bets and as always post your sporting tips and chat here.
In December 2020 we sadly 
Tuesday Tennis:
I’ve already said I fancy Mathieu over Paire tomorrow and that’s available at evens. I’m doubtful Paire can follow up what was by all accounts an impressive run to the challenger title in Bergamo last week. Given Mathieu’s recent performances indoors this is a a definite step up in quality of opposition for Paire, and it would be fairly uncharacteristic if he actually turned up to this one really switched on and produced tennis of the quality and consistency needed to win.
I also suggested there might be some value in backing Dustin Brown to beat Ivo Karlovic @ 2/1. Ivo’s form has dipped somewhat after a really impressive start to the year, and Brown was good enough in Memphis, and is generally good enough behind serve, to at least take this to tiebreaks and turn this one into a 50/50.
I’m going to add another outsider to the list, and risk Sabine Lisicki to beat Ana Ivanovic @ 9/4. I really do mean RISK, as Liscki just isn’t a reliable performer, but these Dubai courts are fast and in the heat of the day the extra pace should help her out. She successfully negotiated her way past a potential banana skin of a first round match against a steady and crafty Niculescu, and if she serves well and keeps her errors down she has a chance of catching Ivanovic a little cold. Ana hasn’t played since she crashed out in the first round of the Australian open to world number hundred and something Lucie Hradecka, and in a match where I wouldn’t be surprised by any scoreline, I’m gunning for the underdog. Not one for the faint hearted – this is unlikely to be an easy and painless ride!
Talking of Lucie Hradecka, she plays Roberta Vinci in the first round in Rio De Janeiro tomorrow, and is tempting me with odds of 9/5. Her form this year has been excellent, with 9 wins to 2 defeats, including upsetting Kuznetsova as well as Ivanovic down under, and has done it all on what must be considered her least favoured surface. She’s generally a little more comfortable on clay, and while Vinci is obviously a veteran who’s enjoyed great success on the dirt over her career, she’s not quite at her very best these days, and has had a very mixed start to the year, with three okay wins cancelled out by three indifferent losses. Worth a go for small stakes.
Going a little safer, and I’m on Garbine Muguruza, who has been really good this year, most recently in her 2-0 fed cup win over Halep, to beat a Jelena Janokovic who hasn’t been close to her best for a long time. The fast surface will make life even harder for Jankovic, and it will take a really serious improvement for her to beat the young Spaniard here. I’m doubling Muguruza up with Pospisil to beat Haase. Haase played pretty well in his defeat to Seppi in Roterdam, but the fact is that was his 5th defeat in 5 matches this year. Pospisil was himself impressive in his defeat to Andy Murray, and it was only an excellent Murray performance (and a few errant backhands) that stopped him from scoring the upset. Indoor hard court gives a clear edge to Pospisil, and if he can replicate the sort of performance he put in against Murray he should be too strong for Haase.
Double pays 5/6
Good luck everyone, whatever you go for.
Cheers Ad
I got greedy yesterday, put Brian Tennis pick into your double. Could kick myself today as everyone else who followed made some money.
Will try catching up with your safer double today.
Ad brilliant post mate good luck
Cheers Wato, I’ll need it!
Was debating whether to go with your double tomorrow but already placed 2 footy bets and trying not to go over my daily limit lol
I’m on Ad, goodluck
Cheers Abbas, fingers crossed for a good day on court.
not easy to stand against big servers like karlovic
Double Stakes Evening Round Of Darts
Anderson (Darts)
Lewis (Darts)
MVG (Darts)
0.70/1 Skybet
*WON* 51.00 Profit 21.00 (5 out of 6)
————————————————————-
16/02/15
Level Stakes
Robertson (Snooker)
Venus Williams (Tennis)
Man Utd (FA Cup)
1.03/1 Skybet
*WON* 30.47 Profit 15.47 (6 out of 7)
————————————————————–
Aim was to increase the bankroll by 100 in a week. Roughly 15 profit per day.
Results for week 1 is 6 winning bets at evens or above from 7 picks.
Bank has now increased by 100, so level stakes now increases to 20.
—————————————————————
17/02/15
Level Stakes
M. Selby (Snooker)
Muguruza (Tennis)
B. Munich) (Champions League)
1.10/1 Skybet
Well done brian… great betting plan
Cheers Huggy
I feel like im walking on a mine field lol, just trying to avoid standing on anything.
Then when i do it trying to keep myself from going on tilt.
Trying to stay away from anything that has a draw in it also. ie football. But sometimes the extra odds are needed.
AS the bankroll increases and the stake goes up the bet value may go down, as the aim is to bank 100 per week.
Therefore picks of around 0.7/1 0.8/1 may be enough.
I think this would be very useful for NBA games as could provide higher cover over/under the handicap lines.
See how it plays out.
Always open to your suggestions when the games are back in play.
Kitchen nearly done so will have more time to study
**POSTED YESTERDAY**
**WON** NHL TREBLE:
– Carolina +1.5
– Winnipeg ML
– Boston & Draw
Pays odds of $2.66 (2 pts on)
**WON** College Basketball 4-FOLD:
– Pittsburgh At Virginia Over (109.5)
– Butler (+6.5)
– Villanova (-7.5)
– Kansas (+7.5)
Pays odds of $2.50 (2 pts on)
**6 points profit so a good day from a limited ‘other sports card.
Hey AD, ate you able to post a simple list of the players/bets your on in the next 24 hours mate? Cos you posted some tips yesterday and more today but I don’t have time to pick through the write ups. Cheers mate.
My Early Mixed Sports Acca’s:
Russian Hockey Treble:
– Zauralye Kurgan (+1.5) 1.39
– Sary Arka Karaganda & Draw 1.50
– Sibir Novosibirsk ML 1.44
TREBLE pays odds of $3.00 (1.5 pts on)
Mixed Sports 5 FOLD:
– Central Coast Mariners +2.0 (footy) 1.12
– LG Sakers ML (Korean KBL) 1.25
– KEPCO 45 Win (Korean volleyball). 1.68
– Mark Selby Win (snooker) 1.08
– Liang Wenbo Win (snooker) 1.20
5 FOLD pay odds of $3.05 (1.5 pts on)
American ice hockey
Predators
St. Louis
Devils
Treble 3.46/1 @ coral
I’m on this Tennis Acca:
– Wozniaki, Pospisil, Mathieu (4.5), Nadal, Ferrer, Monfils, Simon
7-FOLD PAYS $3.83 (1.25 pts on)
Suarez Navarro becoming one hell of a coupon buster… Takes Giorgi in straight sets! Glad I managed to avoid that land mine…
Would have to be 3rd time in a week she’s taken her opponent down as underdog? Yet no one ever wants to back her, lol
It was purely her injury and travel that made me go with with Giorgi. CSN played superbly in Antwerp till her withdrawal, surprised she could recover so quickly. If she is for as she seems to be she’ll be hard to beat.
Yep, was having hopes when Giorgi came back to 4-4 in the 2nd set but no luck!
Still plenty games to make up for that loss ;-)
I’m gonna bet on Navarro next match if she is above Evens…just cos she keeps beating the favorites…
That’s why I put RISK in capitals next to Lisicki….wow, nightmare!
I’m better news Muguruza breezed it as expexted. Need Pospisil to beat Haase now for the double.
Pretty decent looking treble there mrkrabs, good luck.
tennis treble
querrey
jhonson
mahut
1.88/1 @ bet365
Looking ahead to the next round and I make Muguruza favourite to beat Radwanska. She is available at a fraction over evens on betfair and that’s good enough for me. Her form is really encouraging and on a fast court like this if she plays the way she has been it will take an excellent Radwanska performance to break her down.
Wozniaki looks well under the weather. Court doctor has been on to talk to her. Feeling unwell by the sounds of things. And also getting treatment on her knee. Certainly didn’t seem herself in the first set.
If Stosur ruins the party im sticking to Men’s Tennis…the women seem too erratic & unpredictable…much like my wife, lol
Wozniaki 3-0 up in second set… hope she keeps this up!
You can’t really legislate for someone having flu or whatever is ailing her tough. If Wozniaki was fully fit she would definitely win this (I raised my eyebrows a little when Scott referred to this as being a tough draw for her!)
5-0 up now, hopefully she can get it done.
Anyone on Afghanistan to win tonight??
One from me today. Munoz de la Nava first set vs Dzumhur
Can anybody tell me what’s going on with the Pospisil game please?
He’s currently a break down in the first set Jack. I started watching just in time to see him miss the easiest put away ever to get the break back. Good stuff! Early days yet, hopefully he sorts it out.
I’ve now seen two games and he’s playing like an absolute imbecile. He’s missed three or four basic volleys with a few other unforced errors sprinkled in there for good measure as well. The good news is it can only get better from here!
Ad cheers mate. At least he got there in the end! It was weird because it was a 12:30 start, but it disappeared entirely off of William Hill until 2, hence the question.
He made me sweat though because I have what I like in a treble- Bayern, Bristol City DNB and Chelsea DC but when I saw your tip on him I added that so I’d have been annoyed my myself had he lost!
Thanks for the tip and well done on the double.
Pays 11/10
Stosur now available @ 5/1 if any mad people out there think she will battle back and close it out against Wozniaki!
Crazy 7 fold Tennis acca..small change only
Johnson
Querry
Mahut
Simon
Fognini
Lajovic
Dodig
All to win 25/1 bet365
rule number 1 of tennis betting: never back fognini!
Well that was some battle in the Wozniaki game, glad she won in the end!
You can count on a Stosur match for ups and downs. Wozniaki clearly not quite feeling right, pleased to see her get the win all the same. I never once thought Stosur would actually win though, even when she got it back from 5-2 to 5-5.
By the way Atilla thanks for your selections on the Ice hockey and Basketball yesterday I made it into a 6 fold taking out the points total one because they can vary so much. The Boston +1 got voided so it turned into a just over 4/1 accumulator. Thanks again
Cricket world cup
Zimbabwe win v UAE
New Zealand win v England
Double 4/5 Coral
10 points
Renwick I’m not on them to win but it’s definitely good value at 10/3 considering the form of Bangladesh. Think they might just have a bit too much experience for the Afghans in the end though, shakib al-hassan should take man of the match if you like betting on that kind of thing.
Aye Harry, yh he is deffo star man for them!. Stayed away in the end! Games still in the balance though but yh like you said think Bangladesh just have enough to get over the line.
Hopefully Zimbabwe will bat first tonight, Brendan Taylor top runscorer – 13/2 at PP, although with him bating 4 this is dependent on the toss.
mahut getting taken apart
always a danger of that against someone with a fair bit more firepower than him indoors. Struff’s forms not great though and Mahut was decent in Rotterdam so fancied him to nick this one. Still a long way to go, maybe.
Get in there Pospisil!
V F – no worries mate. Lol, I originally had them as a 6 fold but trying to bet sensibly so did the 2 trebles. My Boston +1.5 paid out…you must have taken +1.0 so got the push. All good, glad u were on.
My girl Hradecka has raced into a 4-0 lead against Vinci. Anyone on @ 9/5? Might cover if she wins the first set comfortably, I can’t watch the match so no idea how it’s playing out other than the score.
Ad and Attila thoughts on ferrer and nadal both to win straight sets enhanced to evens on paddy, was original around 0.73/1 I think
I’m instinctively wary of that bet Okan. I imagine the reason they’ve boosted that price is because there is sufficient reason to think one or both of them might find life a little trickier than expected today. Rafa hasn’t played since the Australian and hasn’t played a match on clay yet this year. Bellucci has a few games under his belt and is a very decent player. Same goes for Ferrer. Gimeno Traver, even though I don’t rate him that highly, has 10 wins on clay already this year, and if against a possibly rusty Ferrer a set isn’t impossible. They should both win 2-0, but I think the odds are too low to make it worth wile, given the possible risk involved. The last time I bet on a PP price boost it involved Federer to win 3-0 against Seppi…..and we all know how that ended!
mahut coming back now…
Haase now available @ 12/1 for anyone who wants to cover Pospisl
Haha yeah I’m always wary of the price boosts no matter what it is, my last straight sets one was the Williams sisters which came in, so thought id check in. Thanks for the help!
How did Hradecka lose that set?! Served for it twice then 4-1 up in the tiebreak. Women!
Get in Pospi!
Gj Ad with your double. Thx.
I’m just waiting for SIMON to win for a 4-fold with Muguruza, Wozniacki, Pospisil
that tiebreak was close cmon mahut!
well it was close till the last mahut lost :(
Cheers Oriaz, and good luck with Simon. If he nears his Rotterdam level he will be fine. Hughes Herbert is pretty solid behind serve when he’s playing well but Simon should be too steady and have too much variety.
A couple of early tips for tomorrow:
Muguruza d Radwanska @ 1/1
Venus d Safarova
Isner d Matosevic
double pays 4/5
Ad, care to shed some light on why you fancy Isner, also what day/time and tournament?
risking hantuchova 2-0 v halep @ 7/1 based on the first few games here. She’s hitting really well and has Halep scampering all over the place. I was assuming this would be a fairly routine 2-0 Halep as Hantuchova must be knackered, and looked exhausted yesterday. But if she can somehow produce big, clean tennis for an hour and a half she could outpower Halep. You never know.
small stakes its needless to say. Could be a blowout Haleps way if she finds her rhythm and gets Hantuchova moving.
Mathieu broken to love in the first game of the match…..four absolutely shocking points in a row. just my luck!
Mathieu could not look less interested in being here. Double faults and poor unforced errors aside, he’s not even making an effort to get to Paire’s returns. I’m really not sure what I’m watching here! He better perk up soon. But seeing him not move for a ball that lands about a metre away from him doesn’t fill me with confidence!
Oh great, thank you Mathieu. Wait until the end of the first set before retiring. I placed my bet on Betfair so it counts as a loss. Sorry to anyone who was on him and has suffered a similar fate. He was clearly a long way off being match fit, not the sort of thing it’s possible to know about in advance unless there’s a leak of information or a big shift in the market. Gutted.
I am one lucky boy on Mathieu placed single with bet365..bet voided..phew lucky.
Unlucky Ad still ace tipping..keep it up.
Albert Montanes 2-0 v M Gonzalez off at 7pm Rio
2/1 Ladbtokes
Had one with Mayer, Querrey both also retiring … stated as a loss :(
Gonzales
Cuevas
In Rio
Double 3.4/1 bet365 GL
Ad or others……
Considering a lump on Almagro 8/11 even though he has lost to cuevas recently. Any thoughts
Almagro 0/3 against cuevas
I hope not Ellis lol..GL tho its all fun.
Just think Almagro is full of quality just doesn’t show it
Cuevas may also be tired. Almagro looked like he was going to beat Cuevas last week but fell away at the end. He’s a great clay courter in his day, I can see him winning. Wouldn’t go too big though, Cuevas’ recent clay court record is second to none
Ad,
Not lumped like I said had a biggish bet on him though
Good luck mate.
Cycling: Tour Of Andalucia 2015
This looks like a race between Froome and Contador, but for the other spot on the podium I really like Mollema. The time trial in this 5 day race is very short and the 2 mountain finishes suit him well. He also showed some good form in Mallorca and Murcia and with most of the guys racing for the first time this season he looks like a good bet to finish in the top 3.
Winner: Bauke Mollema (EW) @ 15.00 betvictor
For those wanting to get on the Suarez Navarro train – she is 21/10 to beat Kvitova in the next round. CSN is in great form and and if Kvitova isn’t at her best she can take advantage. To make it even more enticing, she beat her here last year.
lets go Suarez Navarro!
Almagro 1/5 doesn’t reflect the way the match has gone, but the scoreboard is what is important ….
If it wasn’t going against my morals id cover, but, I dont believe in cover bets so won’t start now
Ad,
Kvitova was very poor today aswell! I watched the game having backed her 4/7 1-1 in the third
I keep referring to the Isner match as tomorrow, and while it is, for anyone wanting to back him it starts at around 01:00 in the morning so it’s one for sooner rather than later.
Need Isner to win to complete my fivefold. Dont think I need to cover it, what do you think, Ad?
I’ve put Isner in my safe double for tomorrow, so I think he’s a pretty solid pick Rafael. I’d be surprised if Matosevic can play a solid enough match to beat him on an American hardcourt. It all depends on how much you stand to win though and how much the cover will cost you.
Thanks, Ad. I’ll stick to Isner and keep an eye on the match. Good luck to all of us tonight and tomorrow too. Cheers
Cheeky 4 fold.
Isner, berlocq, Nadal 2-0 and Venus @ 2.36/1
Super Single for tomorrow:
Dubai WTA
Cvitova vs. CS Navarro. IN PLAY. “Three-set Petra” often fouls up the first set, the odds (currently at 1.36) drift out to about Evens (like today) and I jump on. Should work again at this stage of the tournament.
Also taking Venus Williams to win. Might increase stake level as I feel pretty confident about this.
TOP TREBLE – about EVENS – (Dubai again)
Halep to win v. Pironkova
Wozniacki to win v Cornet
Ivanovic to win v Pliskova
….or if these don’t appeal substitute Venus or Petra as above.
And a reminder: Bank of Stan (Wawrinka) re-opens on Thursday morning in the Open 13 tournament vs. Paire. Short price 1.25 though.
In recent seasons P3tra has commonly dropped the second set than the first. This year she has dropped thr first set 4 times but only twice gone on to win. The other times she lost 2-0. I’m not touching her tomorrow. Id rather back her to win 2-1 @ 3/1 prematch for lower stakes than lump on at evens in play if I did though. Wouldnt be too surprised to see her lose. In fact no scoreline would surprise me in this one!
For anyone not on already i still think Venus to win @ 9/1 is a really good bet. There’s no one here to be scared of and she’s so at home. Id back her against Kvitova (will she even still be in the tournament) and Wozniaki or Halep (who I think might bet knocked out by Makarova anyway) so it’s a no brainer for me. She will probably go and get beaten by Safarova tomorrow to make me look doubly stupid, but I’m confident in Venus this week.
MY USA SPORTS GAME PLAN TODAY:
NHL DOUBLE:
– New Jersey Devils – Win
– St. Louis Blues – Win
Pays ODDS of $2.77 (2 pts)
COLLEGE B’BALL TREBLE:
– Baylor (-3.5)
– Kentucky (-7.5)
– Wake Forest (+18.5)
Pays ODDS of $2.42 (2 pts)
FUN NHL & B’BALL 8-FOLD:
– New Jersey Devils ML, Washington Capitals (2.5), St. Louis Blues (1.5), Michigan State ML, Baylor (+4.5), Kentucky (-3.5), Wake Forest (+22.5), Georgetown (+5.5)
Pays ODDS of $4.88 (1 point)
GL today lads!
Btw – my 2 Acca’ s for earlier on (Russian hockey & mixed sports) both LOST, but my Tennis 7 Fold is still alive.
Didn’t realize Simon was playing the next day, so the 1st 6 legs are in and just need to do a little cover on Herbert who’s paying about $4.25 to guarantee a decent win around $3.50 still.
Cricket World Cup
Highest first 15 overs – Bangladesh
Team to score most 6’s – Zimbabwe
Double 1.34 paddypower
3 points
Probably want Zimbabwe to bat first to avoid a chance of the same thing that happened to New Zealand against Scotland. The 10 or more 6s and New Zealand most 6s would probably have won easily if they’d batted first. Although they did look dodgy towards the end with a little collapse.