Justine Henin highlights first round action at Indian Wells

Indian Wells, California – Justine Henin, a wild card entrant, is set to get her Indian Wells tournament underway and if she does anywhere nearly as well here as she did in her first two comeback events in Brisbane and Australian Open, where she finished runner-up in both, we are in for a real treat. Should she outdo those performances, well, what can we say but that she is amazing. Just as she was when she was the world No.1 in the game, with an untouchable points lead over the rest of the field.

Henin is set to begin her campaign against Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia. Elsewhere, Henin’s compatriot Kirsten Flipkens will take on Timea Bacsinszky.

Tennis Betting Line:

Magdalena Rybarikova +6½ -110 +1000 18 O -110 U -130
Justine Henin -6½ -130 -3000 +1000 18 O -110 U -130

First Set Line: Magdalena Rybarikova +600 Justine Henin -1200

Match Time: 05:30 PM Eastern Time Wednesday March 10, 2010

Tennis Betting Verdict: The market take on this match is one-sided, which should come as no surprise to tennis bettors. Henin in her first two events on her comeback trail finished runner-up; she lost to Kim Clijsters in Brisbane and to Serena Williams in Melbourne. Almost two years out of the game and it is as if she had never left. Simply amazing. Henin is not only the favourite but an untouchable favourite and deservedly so.

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Unfortunately, there is no money to be had in betting on her outright odds to win. Better value is found in the odds reflecting the expected performance of Henin in this match. Judging by the market on this, bookies expect a convincing account by Henin and I would agree.

Tennis Free Picks: Henin -3000 | Henin – 6 ½ -130 and Under 18 -130

Tennis Betting Line:

Timea Bacsinszky +2½ -110 +125 21½ O +105 U -145
Kirsten Flipkens -2½ -130 -165 21½ O +105 U -145

First Set Line: Timea Bacsinszky +115 Kirsten Flipkens -155

Match Time: 07:30 PM Eastern Time Wednesday March 10, 2010

Tennis Betting Verdict: The match between Bacsinszky and Flipkens should be competitive. The pair are level 1-1 lifetime with Flipkens earning the most recent victory over Bacsinszky in Dubai last month, 6-3, 6-4. Owing to Flipkens recent account over her Swiss counterpart, she is rightly the favourite in this match at -165.

Those are not firm odds though and Bacsinszky, who actually has the ranking edge over Flipkens, is given her due as the mere +125 puppy.

In some ways, this match is a tossup: Bacsinszky might take the lessons from her loss and apply them against Flipkens for a more favourable result this time around. Similarly, Flipkens would have confidence ahead of this match because of her recent win and feel inclined to repeat such a performance. See, a bit of a conundrum deciding which subplot will dominate this match. For my part, I like Flipkens because I believe she is the more complete player and she has more weapons in her game than Bacsinszkydoes.

Tennis Free Picks: Flipkens -165| Flipkens – 2 ½ -130 | Under 21 ½ -145