WTA: Rogers Cup betting tip: Anastasija Sevastova -Sloane Stephens
Aug 10, 2018
WTA: Rogers Cup: Anastasija Sevastova -Sloane Stephens
I will hold up my hands and say that I am not Anastasija Sevastova's biggest supporter, she is not my cup of team, almost 12 months ago I wrote ............
I am always happy to take on Anastasija Sevastova on this surface against solid players and ahead of her match with Naomi Osaka at the Canadian Masters my notes included ........
I am not a great fan of Anastasija Sevastova against the stronger players on fast surfaces and she is 17-35 versus those ranked top 50 on hard courts, which doesn't really tally with her top 20 ranking. She opted to return to clay after Wimbledon which is not usual for a "top" player and I do not agree with her as favourite today.
She lost that in two sets, won four matches since, two here and two in Cincinnati , but all against lowly ranked, out of form, or players uncomfortable (losing record) on the surface and she remains vulnerable.
She did win a couple of matches and high profile ones at the US Open, but lost to Sloane Stephens (then ranked 83) in three sets . She has maintained her ranking at around the 20 mark and is clearly better than I personally rate her if I am being honest, but half her wins in the last 12 months have been on non hard courts and she is 9-20 versus top 20 ranked players on this surface she can raise her game, but rarely at the business end and within that category she is 0-5 at the quarter final stage or later. Also of those 20 defeats , how many do you think she lost in straight sets ? All 20 !
That is kind of my issue with her, when things go her way great, but when not, she can rarely hang in there and grind it out against the better players. Detailed notes on Sloane Stephens in yesterday's email, she beat Carla Suarez Navarro 6-2 7-5, it should have been 6-2 6-1, but SS made it difficult for herself after leading 5-1 in the second. After she said :"I thought I had a little bit of a lapse, but I was happy to get back and win the last two games. "Obviously you play a sport, you're playing against an opponent. "She played a couple of good games, kind of threw me off. I was happy to get through in the end."I think she just raised her game a little bit. She started playing better. She called her coach out at 5-2. She started playing a little bit different. I mean, it kind of happens sometimes. I was happy to get back and play the last two games really hard."
I am not worried about that, it is probably good for her to play a little more tennis right now and she should retain focus better next time in the same situation, hopefully today. Sloane has won her last seven 'big' tournament quarter finals.
1.75 units Sloane Stephens to win 2-0 sets 2.29 Pinnacle/Sportmarket Pro.
Good Luck.
Sloane Stephens- Carla Suarez Navarro
Sloane Stephens is an odd one, she has to be in the mood, if not she can lose to almost anyone, but on song can win anywhere and on any surface and is especially tough to beat in North America .At Indian Wells in March I wrote .......
Sloane Stephens is never going to be someone we see 40 weeks per year and has struggled for form since her US Open win last year, not playing that much and going 4-6 , but she won twice for the first time subsequently last time out in Acapulco and beat an admittedly short of match practice Victoria Azarenka yesterday. Also she can find form from nowhere, witness 0-5 last year going to the Canadian Masters where she made the last 4, repeated that feat in Cincinnati the next week and then won in New York ! She is 17-1 on US soil since last years Miami Open and is clearly a home bird ! Stephens is also 12-7 at Indian Wells (winning 7/10 when her own rank is inside the top 50) with four wins over former world #1 players .
Next tournament was Miami and I updated with ........... Stephens has posted two good subsequent wins here in Miami and is up to 19-2 on US soil in the last 12 months which is incredible. She is also 12-5 in Miami when her own ranking is top 100. Stephens is a Florida girl, born , raised and still lives (50 minutes from these courts) in the Greater Miami Area and very used to the weather and conditions here.
Ahead of her next game my notes included and these are worth (re)reading ..............
This was the best she has played since the US Open and it does leave you wondering how her focus can dip for months inbetween, as, at this level of performance, she looks and feels unplayable regardless of opponent. Those dips are also odd given how committed , competent and motivated her coach is and Stephens and Kamau Murray have a special relationship, with FAR more respect than you often see between employer and employee on tour and this is a true partnership. If you have a sapre five minutes, I would definitedly suggest reading this article on Murray and his XS project, it gives you a real insight into the coach and his, I have to use the same word again, commitment to everything he does. If you have more time, I would suggest this interview, he is a very impressive individual, who will have a big influence in tennis over the next 30 years.
Those dips are hard to quantify, but Stephens admitted it was hard to focus after her Open win and had taken time to get back on track, but she looks on the rails again now and she can do things on court that NO ONE else can do, she has so much time on the ball and can completely change her shot at the last minute and do it time and time again and that is incredibly difficult to play against.
Stephens blew away the competitions to win Miami and was a set and break up in the Roland Garros final versus Simona Halep, we opposed her at Wimbledon in R1 where she lost, it is a tough transition and I am not sure SS expected to go so deep on clay and her eyes were probably already turned towards this swing. She made the semis in this event last year, so has a lot of points to protect for her now #3 ranking, in the last 18 months she is 27-4 in the US/Canada and the hot ,sticky weather here is not dissimilar to that in Miami ( see above) where she grew up and is very comfortable. She now meet diminutive but consistent Carla Suarez Navarro, but this is not really about her as Stephens will win if focussed, the American is 20-5 versus players under 1.68m when her own ranking is top 100 , Stephens leads the h2h 2-0 dropping just 9 games across the four sets.
1.75 units Sloane Stephens to win 2-0 sets 2.04 Pinancle/Sportmarket Pro......best bet on a day that they are in short supply.