WTA Cincinnati Open Odds Swiatek Tops Betting, Williams’ Last Bid

The Western and Southern Open is underway this week with WTA Cincinnati Open Odds in full swing across the sports betting exchange, offering tennis fans their final chance to bet on a major WTA event before the Tour descends on the US Open later this month.

In this column, we look at the main talking points entering this prestigious US Open Series event that has been a staple on the WTA tennis schedule. We consider World No.1 Iga Swiatek’s bid to come through as the tournament favorite, Serena Williams’ swansong, and Emma Raducanu’s chance to get ready for her US Open title defense campaign.

Swiatek Tops Betting

Is World No.1 Iga Swiatek the best bet to win the Western and Southern Open as per the WTA Cincinnati open odds?

Books have installed the 21-year-old Polish star as the player to beat, even though she enters the tournament in mixed form.

Swiatek’s last winning run was at the French Open in June, where she picked up her second career grand slam title. In the lead-up to the Parisienne grand slam. Swiatek was nigh unbeatable as she reeled off a 35-match winning streak and picked up six straight titles, including her win over Coco Gauff in the French Open final.

Swiatek would go on to win two more matches after the French Open, extending her incredible winning streak to 37 straight wins – thus, setting a new WTA record in the Open era. But it ended with a third-round exit at the Wimbledon Championships when she lost to Alize Cornet, 6-4. 6-2.

Since Wimbledon, Swiatek has put together a 3-2 win-loss record. She reached the quarterfinals of the Poland Open (l. to Carolina Garcia). Then she was a second-round casualty of the National Bank Open in Toronto, losing to eventual finalist Beatriz Haddad-Maia.

Arguably, this is Swiatek’s last chance to find the kind of hard court form that saw her claim both the Indian Wells and Miami Open titles (also known as the Sunshine Double) earlier this year. She doesn’t have an easy draw in Cincy, but if she can play to her full potential, she could come through on her favorable WTA tennis betting odds.

Serena Williams Evolving Away From Tennis

Serena Williams, without a doubt one of the (if not THE) greatest tennis player on the planet, is about to call time on her decorated career. The 23-time grand-slam champion made the announcement through an article in Vogue Magazine – as ever, doing things on her terms and her way.

“Maybe the best word to describe what I’m up to is evolution,” wrote Serena Williams in her Vogue article. “I’m here to tell you that I’m evolving away from tennis, toward other things that are important to me.”

Serena’s retirement (evolution) news isn’t totally surprising. The writing was on the wall, so to speak.

The 40-year-old Superstar missed a year on the WTA Tour after suffering a hamstring injury at the 2021 Wimbledon Championships. That her much-anticipated return this year happened to coincide with the 2022 Wimbledon Championships was welcomed by many who were anxious to see her return to form.

But her sojourn was short-lived as she was stunned in the first round by France’s Harmony Tan, a player that ranked outside of the Top 100 then.

Serena returned to play last week in Toronto, but she fell in the second round of the National Bank Open, losing to Belinda Bencic in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4.

Given Williams’ current form, it’s no surprise that she’s among the longshots at +5000 on the WTA Cincinnati Open Odds board.  Few expect her to win Cincy, even though it’s her swansong.

That said, she’s still worth considering in the early rounds of the tournament. Certainly, in her first match against reigning US Open champion Emma Raducanu. The Brit is struggling on form and can’t seem to buy a win no matter how hard she tries.

Raducanu’s US Open Title Defense in Jeopardy

It’s safe to safe, Emma Raducanu hasn’t had the year many would have expected after she won the 2021 US Open.

Raducanu currently ranks No.13 in the world, but she’s in danger of losing a ton of ranking points after the US Open if she doesn’t find form soon. She enters Cincy with a losing 11-14 record on the season.

Injuries have set back the Briton considerably. But, perhaps, the pressure of being a champion has had an impact, too, though she denies that is the case.

“(Pressure) is only either what I put on myself or what I expect from myself,” said Raducanu during an interview with Sky Sports. “I only feel the pressure or think about it whenever I’m in my press conferences because every single question is about pressure.”.

Whatever the circumstance, it’s clear that Raducanu isn’t in the kind of form that would instill confidence in her odds to pull off a successful title defense campaign at Flushing Meadows. What’s more, if she was hoping to get her game ready at the Western and Southern Open, then she got no favors from the draw.

A date against Serena Williams on Tuesday could be the beginning of the end of her campaign. Raducanu is the +4000 longshot to win Cincy right now.