Womens tennis
The Olympic Games tennis event isn’t just about the men, the women are also in singles competition too with most of the stars of the female game heading to Rio de Janeiro looking to get their hands on a precious gold medal.
As with the men there are one of two players who have given this a miss either through injury or health grounds but by and large the field is as strong here as it is in any other tournament so we’re set for a good week.
Recent Winners
2012 – Serena Williams
2008 – Elena Dementieva
2004 – Justine Henin-Hardenne
2000 – Venus Williams
1996 – Lindsay Davenport
1992 – Jennifer Capriati
1988 – Steffi Graf
The Format
This is a straight knockout tournament right from the start. There was a limit to the number of players a country could send so the field is different to the ones we might see in a Grand Slam.
All matches are the best of three sets apart from the final. Tie-breaks are in operation in all sets apart from the deciding one which must be won by two clear games.
First Quarter
Defending champion and women’s legend Serena Williams heads the seedings this week and she is at the top of the draw. Serena was imperious at Wimbledon and a repeat of that effort would surely give her a second gold medal.
The seeds that will be taking Serena on are pretty strong it must be said. Former Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova is her biggest danger while the American could have the chance for revenge against Roberta Vinci – it was the Italian who ended the Serena Slam prospects in New York last year. Elina Svitolina is the other seed in the quarter.
Heather Watson is in this quarter and she is one of a few spoilers in the section. Ekaterina Makarova can take any scalp on her day as can Caroline Wozniacki while Timea Babos is no mug either so this could be a great section to watch.
Second Quarter
This section is headed by the French Open champion Garbine Muguruza. The Spaniard is probably chomping at the bit to get into action in this tournament having lost early at Wimbledon but she doesn’t have it any easier just because she isn’t in Serena’s quarter.
Venus Williams is the other main seed in this quarter while Timea Bacsinszky and Anastasia Pavlyuckenkova aren’t planning on heading to Brazil just to make up the numbers so this is a fairly strong quarter.
The floaters are no easier either with Jelena Jankovic, Irina-Camelia Begu, Lucie Safarova and Kirsten Flipkens all being in this section. As a collective this top half of the draw is stacked with big names and will take some coming through.
Third Quarter
The highest seed in this quarter is Agnieszka Radwanska and she must be relishing being nowhere near Serena in the draw. That might create its own pressures though with expectancy around her being even higher.
She will be opposed in the short term by Madison Keys, Carla Suarez-Navarro and Barbora Strycova and they are a tasty set of opponents. Madison Keys is in good form while the other two are very dangerous on their day.
Ana Ivanovic, Kristina Mladenovic, Sara Errani and Kiki Bertens are all in this section and all were seeds or highly ranked players as recently as Wimbledon so there is nothing easy about this draw even if the Grand Slam winners aren’t in it.
Bottom Quarter
This one is headed by the Australian Open champion and Wimbledon runner up Angelique Kerber. The German is having a wonderful season and this will be a real target for her given the year she is currently in the middle of.
The seeds who have been grouped up with her in this quarter are Svetlana Kuznetsova, Britain’s Johanna Konta, who arrives here in sensational form, and Sam Stosur, the former US Open champion so in keeping with the theme of this draw this section is loaded too.
You would have to say the floaters aren’t of the strongest level here but Eugenie Bouchard and Sloane Stephens will disagree. They meet in the first round though so one of them will be disappointed early. Caroline Garcia and Yaroslava Shvedova could be dangerous.
Betting
Although the top quarter is an absolute tournament in itself and Serena isn’t guaranteed to come through it by any means I still think she is a heavy favourite for this tournament but the fact Serena and Muguruza are both in the same half does open up the bottom half to some each way potential.
Clearly expectations will be high on Angelique Kerber in the bottom half but she is plenty short enough, with good reason given her successes this year, and I’m never one to go in at too short a price in women’s tennis. Instead I’ll go for a couple who offer better value.
Madison Keys made it all the way to the final in Montreal before losing to Simona Halep but the Romanian isn’t here to beat her this time so I’m going to chance the American to keep up the fine tradition that USA have in this particular event.
We know all about Keys’ serve and that is a weapon that can work well in these conditions and she is hitting the ball lovely too. She will be glad Halep isn’t around as it was her who put her out of Wimbledon as well. Without her I think Keys is a real runner here.
I’m also prepared to chance Svetlana Kuznetsova in this tournament too. She has been pretty vocal in the lead up to these Games about how certain Russian athletes do deserve to be here and now she has to back that up on the court so she won’t lack for motivation.
Kuznetsova is enjoying a decent enough year as recognised by the fact she is seeded 8 in this tournament and although Kerber and Konta could be tricky opponents in these conditions I can’t help but feel the Russian is overpriced this week.
Tips
Back M.Keys to win Gold Medal (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 17.00 with Winner Sports (1/2 1-2)
Back her here:
Back S.Kuznetsova to win Gold Medal (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 67.00 with Boylesports (1/2 1-2)
Back her here:
