The Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati is set to get underway on Monday with a star-studded cast in attendance at the last WTA 1000 event in the lead-up to the US Open.
World No. 1 Iga Swiatek headlines the draw. She’s joined by fellow Top 5 players Anett Kontaveit, Paula Badosa, Maria Sakkari and Ons Jabeur. Flying the American flag are Jessica Pegula, Coco Gauff, and the great Serena Williams, who’ll be making her last appearance at the Western and Southern Open as she prepares to “evolve” out of tennis.
If you love tennis, then you’ll really love BetUS where all your tennis betting thrills are covered. In this column, we take an in-depth look at the WTA Cincinnati draw and highlight some of the favorites, middleweights, and longshots. As well, we’ll check the latest Tennis news, stats, injury reports, and Tennis odds for the Western and Southern Open and provide insight that will be helpful towards any Tennis picks and predictions you might consider.
WTA Cincinnati Outrights at BetUS
- Iga Swiatek +260
- Simona Halep +750
- Cori Gauff +1400
- Naomi Osaka +1400
- Elena Rybakina +1600
- Aryna Sabalenka +1600
- Ons Jabeur +1800
- Bianca Andreescu +2200
- Amanda Anisimova +2000
- Paula Badosa +2000
- Jessica Pegula +2000
- Karolina Pliskova +1800
- Maria Sakkari +2500
- Belinda Bencic +2200
- Leylah Fernandez +4000
- Beatriz Haddad Maia +4000
- Daria Kasatkina +3300
- Anett Kontaveit +3300
- Victoria Azarenka +3300
- Garbine Muguruza +4000
- Emma Raducanu +4000
- Serena Williams +5000
- Madison Keys +5000
- Kaia Kanepi +6000
- Barbora Krejcikova +6000
- Veronika Kudermetova +6000
- Petra Kvitova +6000
- Elise Mertens +6000
The Favorite: Iga Swiatek +260
World No. 1 Swiatek emerges as the betting online favorite, despite suffering a slight dip in form since her victory at Roland Garros in June – well, three losses since February is hardly a “dip,” but the 21-year-old set the benchmark high with a solid first half of the WTA season.
Swiatek went on a tear between February and June, winning six consecutive titles that spanned two different surfaces (hard and clay) and were capped off with her second career French Open title. She put together a record-setting 37-game winning streak during this period, overtaking both Serena and Venus Williams successfully in the history books.
Swiatek was a third-round casualty at Wimbledon and then she lost in the quarterfinals of the Poland Open last month. Whereas last week, Swiatek was ousted by Beatriz Haddad-Maia in the second round of the Rogers Cup in Toronto.
Drawing quite a crowd in Cincinnati 🤩@iga_swiatek | #CincyTennis pic.twitter.com/AouNpJoxPs
— wta (@WTA) August 13, 2022
The World No. 1, along with the other Top 8 seeds, received a bye into the second round. Thus, Swiatek’s first match will be in the second round and it will see her face either Sloane Stephens or Alize Cornet – different kinds of players, but both potential stumbling blocks.
Should Swiatek survive the second round, she could face a number of threats on her path to the quarterfinals, including Haddad-Maia, Jelena Ostapenko, and Madison Keys to name a few in the R16.
In the quarters, she could see American Coco Gauff (see below Gauff section), reigning Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina or two-time grand slam champion Garbine Muguruza to name a few.
Halep, Jabeur, Badosa Fall Into a Tough Second Quarter
Simona Halep is the bookmakers’ second favorite at +750 as per the latest WTA Cincinnati futures, despite being sandwiched in a second quarter by two of the World’s Top 5 players — Paula Badosa and Ons Jabeur.
The 30-year-old Romanian is coming off a title win in Toronto, underscoring her odds at the sportsbook exchange. However, she’ll have expended a lot of energy during her run to the final in Toronto. That could set her up for a potential early upset especially given the fact that she doesn’t get a bye into the second round.
Halep is set to open her campaign against Czech Karolina Muchova — a dark horse in this section of the draw that can shake things up.
Should she survive that first test, she could face either 2021 French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova or in-form Russian Veronika Kudermetova in the R32 and then Badosa in the R16.
In the quarterfinals, Halep could set up a blockbuster showdown with Belinda Bencic, two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova or Wimbledon finalist Ons Jabeur.
Top American Threat: Coco Gauff +1400
The draw is stacked with top American players, but the bookmakers’ top favorite is Gauff. The 18-year-old rising star enters the draw as the 11th seed and falls into the same quarter as Swiatek.
Should the draw fall in line with the seeding, Gauff would face Swiatek in the quarterfinals. However, there are a few stumbling blocks on her path to the last eight such as Wimbledon champion Rybakina and former two-time grand slam champion Muguruza.
Gauff was a surprise finalist at the French Open where she lost to Swiatek 6-1, 6-3 in her maiden Grand Slam final. Since then, Gauff has gone 11-4 on two different surfaces (grass and hard).
Last week, Gauff reached the quarterfinals of the WTA 1000 event in Toronto. She lost to Halep 4-6, 6-7 (2).
Pegula and Serena Highlight Third Quarter
Jessica Pegula is priced as a dark horse to win the title in Cincy at +2000, but her odds belie what is a tough section. Arguably, the proverbial “group of death.”
Pegula is coming off a semifinal appearance in Toronto, losing to Halep in three sets, 6-2, 3-6, 4-6. She’ll be glad for the bye into the second round because she’ll face one of two big hitters — former US Open champion Bianca Andreescu or Camilla Giorgi.
In the R16, Pegula could face either reigning US Open champion Emma Raducanu, two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka, Kaia Kanepi or 23-time grand slam champion Serena (Gulp).
In the other side of this section is Venus, Karolina Pliskova, Elise Mertens, and Sakkari – any one of which is a potential quarterfinal opponent.
American Dark Horse Anisimova +2000
Amanda Anisimova is the future of American tennis. She’s still got some way to go in the maturation process, but she’s quickly earning a reputation for being a dangerous floater. She’s beaten top players such as Naomi Osaka, Belinda Bencic, Aryna Sabalenka, and so on.
Anisimova falls into the fourth quarter of the draw where she’s on course to face Sabalenka in the R16.
She will open her tournament against Silicon Valley Classic champion Daria Kasatkina. Should she survive the Russian, she could face one of her compatriots – Sofia Kenin or Shelby Rogers. Both Kenin (former Aussie Open champion) and Rogers entered the draw on a wild card.
Should Anisimova survive the early rounds, she could come up against second seed Anett Kontaveit, four-time grand slam champion Osaka or Canada’s Leylah Fernandez to name a few.
