Aussie Open Champion Sabalenka Favored To Win In Brisbane

Former World No. 1 Naomi Osaka Return to the WTA Tour in Brisbane

The Brisbane Invitational is back for the first time since 2020. Although many top players are committed to playing in the United Cup, there is still some star power in the event, with reigning Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka leading the WTA Brisbane betting odds.

Karolina Pliskova won three of the last four Brisbane International events.

The tournament has three players who have won the event at least twice, even though it has been held just 12 times.

Along with Sabalenka playing, the big news is that former World No. 1 Naomi Osaka is returning to the tour.

Regarding tennis betting odds, Sabalenka (+450) and Rybakina (+650) trails only top-ranked Iga Swiatek in the Australian Open women’s tennis outrights. Osaka isn’t far behind at +1100.

The draw will be held on Saturday, with the main draw beginning on Sunday in one of the tune-up events for the Australian Open.

Return of an A-Lister

The last time Naomi Osaka won a match on tour, not including a walkover, came in the Round of 2 at the 2022 San Jose tournament when she topped Qinwen Zheng 6-1 in the third round before losing to Coco Gauff in the next round. However, it is hard to discount Osaka when looking at the WTA Brisbane betting odds.

She also lost her next three tennis matches, which included an upset to Danielle Collins in the US Open.

She is set to play in the Australian Open after she missed all four Grand Slam events in 2023.

Osaka won the Australian Open in 2019 and 2021 and was the US Open champion in 2018 and 2020.

Since winning the 2021 Australian Open title, she has missed six of the 11 Grand Slam events and has a 5-5 record in Grand Slam singles events.

Osaka took time away from the WTA tour to address her mental health and then took another hiatus following the birth of her first child.

Even though she is just returning to the tour, the tennis betting odds have Osaka as one of the players to watch.

Osaka made her debut in Brisbane in 2016 when she reached the final round of qualifying when she was ranked 144th in the world according to the WTA rankings.

It was a much different story in the 2019 and 2020 events. Osaka was ranked fifth and seeded second in 2019 when she advanced to the semifinals.

The following year, she was ranked fourth and seeded third and again made it to the semifinals.

Three Top-10 Players in Brisbane Field

Sabalenka is joined by fellow top-10 players Elena Rybakina and Karolina Muchova in a strong field. Keep an eye on the status of Muchova heading into the tournament.

Regarding the tennis player stats, Sabalenka trails only Swiatek and Jessica Pegula in tour wins in 2023.

American Madison Keys has also entered the tournament along with Jelena Ostapenko, Liudmila Samsonova, Daria Kasatkina, and Veronika Kudermetova.

Sabalenka, the 2023 Australian Open champion, is joined by the 2022 Wimbledon champ (Rybakina), the 2017 French Open winner (Ostapenko), and former World No. 1 Victoria Azarenka, a two-time winner of the Australian Open in what could be an entertaining start to the 2024 tennis season.

Pliskova is entered in the event so she could be a dark horse candidate based on her recent success at the event.

The top 16 seeds will receive first-round byes in the 64-player draw.

A Trip Down Memory Lane

Each of the last two Brisbane International tournaments featured three-set matches in the women’s singles final. Keep that in mind when looking at the WTA Brisbane betting odds.

Pliskova defeated Lesia Tsurenko 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 in the 2019 title match and edged American Madison Keys 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 in the 2020 final.

In 2020, American qualifier Jennifer Brady shook things up by beating wild card Maria Sharapova in the first round, prevailing in a third-set tiebreaker. In the second round, she stunned top-seeded Ash Barty 6-4, 7-6 in the second run before falling to Petra Kvitova in the quarterfinals.

Brady was one of four U.S. players to reach the quarterfinals.

Madison Keys topped Danielle Collins 6-4, 6-1 in an all-American quarterfinal, while Alison Riske fell to Pliskova 7-6, 6-3.

Pliskova won a memorable semifinal with Osaka despite Osaka winning the opening-set tiebreaker 12-10 to set up the championship showdown with Keys.

What’s Next?

After the United Cup and Brisbane events wrap up, there will be one final warm-up event leading into the Australian Open, and that will be in Adelaide.

In 2022, there were two Adelaide events held, with Keys winning one of them.

Sabalenka is another recent Adelaide champion, while Belinda Bencic is the defending champion.

For tennis betting news, odds analysis, and more, visit Point Spreads Sports Magazine.

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