The first day of the WTA Finals in Riyadh brings us two very interesting matches, which we’ve analysed to find the best value. Keep reading to find out what the best betting tips from the WTA Finals day one are.
Best WTA Finals betting tips for day 1
These first two matches have very interesting storylines to them. They’re crucial clashes as the first match is one that players will be aiming to win desperately, since it gets them halfway to the knockout stages.
Sabalenka to win 2-0 @ 1/1
Aryna Sabalenka is 4-0 all time against Qinwen Zheng and while some of those matches have been close, like the one they played recently at the Wuhan Open, generally Sabalenka has dominated this matchup.
She’s plainly the better player with a better skillset. Sabalenka has a better serve, serves more consistently, and plays better from the baseline.
Both are very good on hard courts but unlike Zheng, Sabalenka has already played in Saudi Arabia before which might make a difference. More generally, it’s just a matchup that favours Sabalenka.
Just take a look at their matches so far. It was 6-1, 6-4 at last year’s US Open. It was 6-3, 6-2 in the Australian Open final earlier this year. It was 6-1, 6-2 recently at this year’s US Open and then in Wuhan, Sabalenka won 6-3, 5-7, 6-3.
That’s just not a matchup which will see Zheng winning and a 2-0 for Sabalenka at these odds makes a lot of sense.
Paolini to beat Rybakina @ 8/5
This is a prediction mostly coming down to Elena Rybakina not having played in a very long time. Not only has she been away from the court, but there were also reports of things happening in her private life.
With that in mind, it’s kind of hard to ignore that Rybakina has arrived very underprepared for this event. It’s likely she will be rusty, and could also be distracted mentally. On top of that, Jasmine Paolini is a tough match for her.
She fights for every point, doesn’t give up and is just very annoying to play. Paolini has also played really well at big events this year, so with all that in mind, it simply makes sense to bet on a win for the Italian here.
The odds are fantastic as well, so not having a crack at this bet would be a travesty.