It may seem bizarre, but with the Australian Open having concluded less than a day ago, the WTA Tour is already getting its next tournament under way in Austria. With 500 ranking points and the better part of $1 million on the line in Linz this week, the WTA 500 Upper Austria Ladies Linz will be hotly contested, despite a reduced field.
Obviously, those who had any kind of success at the Australian Open won’t be making an appearance this week. However, those who bowed out early will be desperate to make amends. Jelena Ostapenko is one of these, as are Ekaterina Alexandrova and Elise Mertens. Can any of these top 30 players redeem themselves in Austria?
We break down the latest odds from bookmaker William Hill ahead of the first serve on Monday and outline the best bets to make on the Upper Austria Ladies Linz this week.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: January 29th, 4:30 A.M. (GMT)
Outright betting odds from bookmaker William hill have two women as the strong favourites in Austria this week. Jelena Ostapenko, world No. 12, leads the betting at 4.50, marginally ahead of Ekaterina Alexandrova who returns 5.50. Behind these two Dayana Yastremska—someone who did have success in Australia—comes in third on 7.50. Rounding out the top five betting favourites are Elise Mertens and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, paying 9.00 and 11.00 respectively.
For those who just can’t get enough of tennis betting after the Australian Open, there are a few punts we see working this week. Jasmine Paolini is playing some solid tennis and appears to be under-priced in the bookmaker William Hill’s odds. She made the fourth round of the Australian Open, which for the world No. 24, is her best-ever Grand Slam performance.
Prior to this, Paolini had rounded out 2023 with a run to the semi-finals in Zhengzhou and final in Monastir. This strong form, plus the fact that she has had a good chunk of rest following the Australian Open, makes the Italian an excellent bet with a return of 23.00 to win her second WTA title. Add in the fact that Italians have done well at this event in the past, and we say this is a great wager.
If Paolini seems like a bit too much of a long shot, then a different type of risk would be betting on Jelena Ostapenko to take out the title here. So far in 2024, she’s won a title in Adelaide, and lost in the first round of the Australian Open. That’s the perfect summary of the Latvian—she can either defeat anyone or lose to anyone. It really depends which Ostapenko turns up on the day. She’s made the final here before and will be disappointed to have under-performed at the Australian Open, so there’s every chance the world No. 12 will put in a good shift here.
