The Rouen tournament is the smaller WTA tournament this week. The main event is in Stuttgart, where there are more points and larger payouts. Rouen is an event where struggling or lower-ranked players try to build form and win matches against second-tier competition, with Madrid’s two-week tournament not far away. Let’s look at the first set of matches as Rouen gets underway.
WTA Rouen
Ferro – Cirstea: Time 11:00
H2H: 0-2
Fiona Ferro meets Sorana-Mihaela Cirstea. These two players are in very different positions at the moment. Ferro hasn’t played since February, and when she did, she played in lower-tier tournaments. She is ranked outside the top 200. Cirstea is the No. 2 seed at this tournament. She has been playing at the WTA level for a while. She has played at the WTA Miami and WTA Linz in recent weeks, among others. She went to the quarterfinals in Linz and gave top seed Mirra Andreeva a battle before losing in three sets.
Best Bet to Make
Cirstea has been playing better tennis than Ferro against stronger competition. Beyond that, Ferro simply hasn’t played on tour in more than a month and a half. It’s really hard to think that Ferro will shake off the rust and instantly play well. Cirstea, on the other hand, is getting plenty of opportunities and has been performing reasonably well. There’s a vast rankings difference between the two players, so the price for a Cirstea win isn’t going to bring a big return. You need to look for spreads or handicaps to find a solid payout.
That being said, Cirstea winning comfortably (-4.5 games) is a value bet for sure.
Value bet/ the best odds: Cirstea -4.5 games @1.73 @bet365
Oliynykova – Tagger: Time 12:00
H2H: 0-0
Oleksandra Oliynykova faces Lilli Tagger. If you followed the Linz tournament this past week, you saw that Tagger made the quarterfinals. The teenager had a very encouraging tournament, beating No. 3 seed Liudmila Samsonova along the way. Tagger saved eight set points in the second set of that match to win a 13-11 tiebreaker and finish the victory. It will be interesting to see how she follows up on her Linz performance in France. I am not embarrassed to say that her WTA Linz showing was pretty impressive.
Best Bet to Make
The idea here is simple: Tagger has shown she can compete. She is a fearless teenage athlete who is growing in confidence. WTA Linz was in Austria, her home country, so some people might be skeptical of how she will do outside of Austria. However, she showed against Samsonova that she can play well against and slug it out with an accomplished, talented veteran. A win for Tagger has a reasonable price, considering her opponent, Oliynykova, is ranked outside the top 60. Can Tagger provide the dagger?
That being said, Tagger winning is a value bet for sure.
Value bet/ the best odds: Tagger to win @1.73 @1xbet
Tjen – Bondar: Time 13:00
H2H: 1-0
Janice Tjen faces Anna Bondar in a good first-round match. Rouen is only a 250-point tournament, so for a first-round match to have two players in the top 65 of the WTA rankings is noticeable. Tjen is the higher-ranked player and the No. 6 seed at Rouen, but she is priced as the underdog. Bondar is expected to have more comfort on the given surface, so this sets up as a test of Tjen’s quality versus Bondar’s clay abilities and rhythm.
Best Bet to Make
Tjen is the higher-ranked player, Bondar the market favorite. Which way do you go here? Is Bondar that much better than Tjen to deserve being favored like this? Why not go with Tjen and trust her talent for a far better return on investment? Sometimes it’s worth it to take the underdog.
That being said, Tjen winning is a value bet for sure.
Value bet/ the best odds: Tjen to win @2.11 @1xbet
Main Photo Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images
