Tennis – Silicon Valley Classic: Osaka takes Wild Card

The US Open series, which is a series of tennis tournaments across North America in the lead-up to the US Open, is now underway. As ever, we’re here to bring you a preview of the best tennis tournaments, and this week, the focus is on the WTA Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic in San Jose, running from Aug 1. to 5.

The Silicon Valley Classic is one of several top-tier tournaments in the US Open Series. This year, it has drawn a star-studded cast – one of the best in recent years as Ons Jabeur, Coco Gauff, and Naomi Osaka are among some of the game’s best players descending on the Tech start-up haven city.

Co-founded by Billie Jean King, the Silicon Valley Classic is a WTA 500 hard-court event held at the San Jose State University Tennis Complex. The singles draw is comprised of 28 players with the first matches getting underway on Monday. The final will be played on Sunday at 2.00 p.m. ET.

World No. 3 Maria Sakkari is the top seed and she headlines a draw that is projected to include World No. 4 Paula Badosa, World No.5 Ons Jabeur, and World No. 6 Aryna Sabalenka as the top four seeds.

Seeded fourth to eighth are (in the following order): Gabarine Muguruza (ranked No.8), Coco Gauff (No. 11), Daria Kasatkina (No.12), and Karoline Pliskova (No. 15).

Who are the Favorites to Win The Silicon Valley Classic?

A new champion will be crowned this year as 2021 champion Danielle Collins is unable to defend her title. The American withdrew from the event with a neck injury.

Last year’s finalist Daria Kasatkina comes into the tournament as one of the top bets to spot on the WTA betting odds board. The Russian, however, isn’t in the top five best bets as per early betting markets.

Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina and Wimbledon finalist Ons Jabeur top the betting market for the Silicon Valley Classic this week.

Rybakina was a quarterfinalist last year in her San Jose debut. She lost to eventual champion Collins in straight sets.

Jabeur is enjoying a banner season, reaching a career-high ranking of World No. 2 last month. The Tunisian trailblazer has reached the final or better in five of her last seven tournaments. This is her first event since losing to Rybakina at the All England Club.

Rising American star Coco Gauff is making her Silicon Valley Classic debut this week. The 18-year-old is having a breakout summer, finishing runner-up to Iga Swiatek at the French Open and reaching the Wimbledon semi-finals.

Gauff is probably a value bet in this draw because she’s not only going to be among the top betting favorites to win the title, but she’ll also be a crowd favorite too.

Four-time grand slam champion Naomi Osaka has taken a wild card into the event. Arguably, as the most recognizable and winningest player in the draw, she deserves to be among the players to beat according to the oddsmakers.

However, form is a big question market with the Japanese-American player as she’s struggled on the WTA Tour in 2022. The results aren’t coming to her as they once did. Will she find her mojo in San Jose, where it all began for her?