Liontips
Sabalenka - Stevens: betting tip for the Australian Open match
The current Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka will begin defending her title on January 12 with a match against Sloane Stephens. The Belarusian tennis player beat the American in all four head-to-head matches, but gave her sets three times. Should we expect any intrigue today and what bets should we choose? - the answer is in our betting tip
Command Analysis
Aryna Sabalenka
BelarusCurrent form
Sabalenka has won the Australian Open for two years in a row and is clearly betting on a third title in a row. The prerequisites for this are not bad. Arina successfully entered the new season, immediately winning the trophy of the pre-Slam tournament in Brisbane. In the final of that competition, she beat Polina Kudermetova (4-6, 6-3, 6-2), although she lost the opening set.
Professional qualities
Arina plays attacking tennis, relies on a powerful serve, and at the first opportunity tries to fully utilize the potential of her strong forehand, which is not inferior in speed to many men indicators. At the same time, Sabalenka has recently noticeably improved in the stability of her game on the back line.
Current indicators in the tour
Sabalenka finished the last season as the world number one tennis player. She achieved her greatest success on hard courts, winning 38 out of 45 matches. This year, Arina managed to win five matches on hard courts.
Interesting facts for betting
- Sabalenka unbeaten streak in Melbourne stands at 14 matches
- Last season, Sabalenka did not lose a single set on her way to the Australian Open title.
Sloane Stephens
USACurrent form
Stephens had an unsuccessful start to the new season. The American played in two tournaments in Auckland and Hobart, both times she hung up her racket in the first round, and lost to the same opponent, Ann Li, first in three sets, and then with a dry score in sets. It should be noted that Sloane demonstrated her best result on the courts in Melbourne back in 2013, when she made it to the semifinals.
Professional qualities
Sloane relies more on long rallies and baseline exchanges, but she has a decent forehand that allows her to finish rallies with aces. Stephens is not very consistent on her own serve.
Current indicators in the tour
Stephens currently ranks a modest 84th in the world rankings. Recall that she was once the world third-ranked player. Last season, the American won only eight out of 21 matches on hard courts.
Interesting facts for betting
- A year ago, Stephens made it to the third round in Melbourne
- Sloane has yet to win a single game since the start of the year.
Trends
Match Tie-Break Bet – Yes
Tie-breaks have been played in two of the previous three head-to-head matches
5.10Rate Set Result: 1>2
This scenario has played out in four of Sabalenka five matches this season.
2.24Tip and bets
Sabalenka got the necessary playing practice before the start in Melbourne, the local courts are very familiar to her, she won the Australian Open two years in a row. Stephens has not shown any high achievements on the tour for a long time, but the American knows how to play at her best at major tournaments. Plus, in all four head-to-head matches, Sloane imposed a fight on Arina and took a set from her three times. We do not think that today we should expect a total rout from the world number one racket.
Our prediction is Stevens' victory with a handicap of (+7.5) games with odds of 1.61
Bet on total
The tennis players have played each other four times, with Sabalenka always winning. At the same time, at least 18 games were played in all head-to-head matches, which we expect to happen this time as well.
The second bet is total over 17.5 games for 1.90
Bet on the first set
It should be noted that in two of the three head-to-head encounters, the first set was the most intense, when tie-breaks were played. We think that this time, too, a close fight should be expected at the start.
Betting Tip - total games in the first set over 8.5 with odds of 1.92
Upcoming matches
Read more
Tips from experts
Today tips
Betting predictions stat
