It’s been a marathon of a season, but tennis has finally rounded the final corner of 2022 and players are engaged in an all-out sprint to the finish line now.
This week sees two ATP 500 events unfold, which are the penultimate events of the year before the Paris Rolex Masters 1000 next week. These three tournaments will dictate which players qualify for the prestigious end of the year Nitto ATP Finals in Turin.
Eleven of the top 20 players in the Race to Turin are competing at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna this week. With five players already qualified, the remaining three places will be hotly contested. Bookmaker William Hill brings the outright odds ahead of this season-defining tournament.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: October 24th, 12:00 A.M. (EST)
Looking at the outright odds for the Erste Bank Open, Russia’s Daniil Medvedev is the clear favourite to take down the title and secure his qualification for the year end competition in Turin. Medvedev is the former world No. 1, currently sitting 4th in the world and 5th in the race to Turin. A win here would see the 26-year-old qualify for Turin, and with odds of 4.00, Medvedev is looking likely.
Rivals to Medvedev this week will be Stefanos Tsitsipas, Andrey Rublev and Jannik Sinner. Tsitispas sits at 6.50 in the odds to win in Vienna with the world No. 5 already having secured his place in the Nitto ATP Finals on November 13th sitting at 3rd in the race currently. Rublev is paying 8.00 for a win this week and will need to perform if he is to avoid slipping down the rankings—he currently sits at 6th in the race to Turin with Felix Auger-Aliassime, Taylor Fritz and Hurbert Hurkacz nipping at his heels.
Sinner rounds out the top four favourites this week with odds of 8.00 as well. The young Italian has already qualified for the NextGen ATP Finals in Milan, but will be hoping that a strong performance here and next week can squeeze him into the Nitto ATP Finals where he is currently 15th in the race.
Looking at the draw, we can expect hot action all week long in Vienna.
Top seed Daniil Medvedev is on track to play 2020 US Open winner and home favourite Dominic Thiem in the second round with the winner facing Jannik Sinner in a quarterfinal. Andrey Rublev also opens his campaign with a tough match against former world No. 8 Diego Schwartzman while Hubert Hurkacz begins his challenge against the in-form Francis Tiafoe.
Expect Taylor Fritz to be the dark horse in this tournament with a healthy draw and plenty to play for. At 15.00, the American is worth a cheeky punt.
Predicted Results:
Quarterfinals:
Daniil Medvedev vs. Jannik Sinner
Andrey Rublev vs. Cam Norrie
Matteo Berrettini vs. Taylor Fritz
Frances Tiafoe vs. Stefanos Tsitsipas
Semifinals:
Daniil Medvedev vs. Andrey Rublev
Taylor Fritz vs. Stefanos Tsitsipas
Final:
Daniil Medvedev vs. Taylor Fritz
Winner:
Taylor Fritz
