WTA Guadalajara Open preview: Jabeur Is Top Seed in Guadalajara
Keys Is Top American Threat To Win In Guadalajara After Withdrawals of Gauff, Pegula
Sakkari and Garcia Are the Other Top Seed to Best Title Threats in Guadalajara Open
Since tournaments following the US Open and before the WTA tour championships tend to fall under the radar, there could be some intriguing matches when looking at the WTA Guadalajara Open preview.
Ons Jabeur and Maria Sakkari are among nine top-20 players in the field as they are the only players currently ranked in the top 10 in the WTA rankings still in the singles draw.
The tournament has lost some star power with the withdrawals of World No. 2 Iga Swiatek, defending champion Jessica Pegula, US Open champion Coco Gauff, Petra Kvitova and Elena Rybakina among others. Keep that in mind when looking at the tennis predictions.
Things got started on Sunday with No. 16 seed Karolina Pliskova defeating Ena Shibahara, Hailey Baptiste ousting Lya Isabel Fernandez Olivares and Alycia Parks topping fellow American Lauren Davis.
No. 13 seed Elise Mertens, No. 15 seed Jasmine Paolini, Cristina Bucsa, Arantxa Rus and Martina Trevisan are other early winners in the tournament. Among the WTA scores on Sunday was Bucsa needing just 56 minutes to dispatch of Kristina Mladenovic 6-0, 6-0.
Things are getting tight at the top with Iga Swiatek (+300), Aryna Sabalenka (+500) and Elena Rybakina (+600) have the best odds in the Australian Open outrights. Among players in this tournament, Jabeur (+2000) and Sakkari (+2200) have the best odds.
Here’s a look at the WTA 1000 event in Guadalajara.
A Look At the Favorites
The top seed in the tournament is Ons Jabeur, who is ranked seventh in the latest WTA rankings.
Jabeur, who has made it to the finals in three of her last six Grand Slam tournaments, is coming off a loss in the fourth round at the US Open. When looking at the WTA Guadalajara Open preview, Jabeur will look to return to her winning ways.
In her first match since losing to No. 23 Qinwen Zheng in New York, Jabeur fell to 27th-ranked Anastasia Potapova.
After receiving a first-round bye, she will face Parks in her first match. No. 9 seed Beatriz Haddad Maia, No. 8 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova and Paolini are seeded players in her portion of the bracket.
Sakkari is the player to beat in the bottom half of the bracket. Since reaching the finals in Washington with wins over Americans Madison Keys and Jessica Pegula, Sakkari is just 2-4 with losses to players ranked 48th, 61st and 71st.
Sakkari will draw either Storm Hunter or Iryna Shymanovich in her first match. No. 5 seed Belinda Bencic, No. 11 seed Anastasia Potapova, No. 14 seed Mayar Sherif and unseeded American Sloane Stephens are possible opponents in her quarter of the bracket.
Keys Tops The American Hopes
No. 4 seed Madison Keys is the only American seeded in the tournament.
Keys hasn’t played since losing to Aryna Sabalenka in the US Open semifinals.
When it comes to the WTA Guadalajara Open preview, she will face an American in her first match in this tournament as Emma Navarro meets qualifier Maria Mateas in the opening round.
Fellow Americans Sofia Kenin and Grace Min are also in her quarter of the draw as are seeded players Anhelina Kalinina, Mertens and Jelena Ostapenko.
If Baptiste can get by Pliskova, a possible third-round showdown with No. 3 seed Caroline Garcia could await.
Stephens could meet up with No. 5 seed Bencic.
Sloane Stephens was pushed by fellow American Ann Li before winning 7-5, 6-4 with the match just going over a total of 21 games. Leylah Fernandez (-800) took care of business in straight sets versus American Asia Muhammad. American Taylor Townsend (-210) also won her opening match.
Another of the night matches on Sunday didn’t involve an American as Genie Bouchard was the slight underdog at +115 against Renata Zarazua before advancing with the 6-1, 7-6 win.
A Look At the Matchups
Former World No. 1 Victoria Azarenka and Kenin are among the players in action on Monday.
Azarenka is priced at -800 to eliminate Robin Montgomery with -115 odds for the match to go over 19 games.
Kenin (-1000) against Carol Zhao and Marta Kostyuk (-1200) versus Stacy Fung are among the most overwhelming favorites followed by Emma Navarro (-950) in her match with Mateas.
The most competitive matchups could include the all-American showdown between Payton Stearns (-230) and Caroline Dolehide (+185), Camila Giorgi (-185) going up against Sherif (+155) and Hunter (-135) meeting Shymanovich.
For WTA betting news, odds analysis, and more, visit Point Spreads Sports Magazine.
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