Women’s tennis has been as competitive as ever the past six months with more of the same expected in 2023. Iga Swiatek has raced out to the World No. 1 position after the retirement of Ashleigh Barty, winning two of the three Grand Slams since then. However, recent months have seen the rest of the field claw back some ground on the Pole making for a fascinating Australian Open over the next fortnight.
Can Iga Swiatek reassert herself over women’s tennis and claim a third Grand Slam in the last nine months? Or will one of the in-form players such as Coco Gauff, Belinda Bencic or Aryna Sabalenka capitalize on their early season momentum to claim the sport’s biggest prize? Bookmaker William Hill has all the odds as we break down the best bets to make in Melbourne this fortnight.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: January 15th, 1:30 P.M. (GMT)
While Swiatek’s lead at the bookmakers isn’t quite as wide as the one Novak Djokovic holds in the men’s field, she’s still the clear favourite here by a long stretch. With odds of 3.20 for the Pole to win the Australian Open, the next closest woman in the odds is Aryna Sabalenka at 7.50, well over double the odds. Behind Sabalenka, the odds begin to lengthen even more with Jessica Pegula, Coco Gauff, Caroline Garcia, Ons Jabeur and Belinda Bencic all sitting between 11.00 and 17.00 to win the tournament outright.
For Swiatek, though her form has dipped slightly over the past few months, she’s still a force to be reckoned with. Betting on the 21-year-old to win here at odds of 3.20 is an excellent bet. It’s no surprise that she lost a few matches towards the end of 2022, given that she won an incredible 37 matches in a row. After a long off-season, Swiatek will no doubt be re-focused and full of motivation to come out and win another Grand Slam this year.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: January 15th, 1:30 P.M. (GMT)
Two women to watch along the way are Belinda Bencic and Madison Keys. Bencic has just played a white-hot week of tennis at the Adelaide International 2, steamrolling her way through the draw and defeating Daria Kasatkina 6-0, 6-2 in the final. The World No. 10 will be looking to leverage this momentum all the way into the Australian Open, where she’s paying 23.00 to meet Iga Swiatek in the final.
Madison Keys will also be looking to maintain her early momentum in 2023 having already won five matches this year. The American was key to the United States winning the inaugural United Cup with Keys winning all of her matches. Having made the semifinals here last year, Keys is paying 34.00 to go all the way in 2023.
