2021 was an enjoyable one if you were a tennis fan. Each tournament offered something a little different, and we saw a great blend of established names and relative newcomers winning the big competitions, which meant that not only was watching that much more intriguing but also meant betting on tennis was a little bit more varied than usual.
Handicap betting on tennis can be a great way to make looking for odds a bit more interesting. If you are new to it, visiting a sports handicapping forum can be the ideal place to start, as other handicap bettors will offer tips and advice on which bets to place. That way you can enjoy the spectacle of tennis and hope for a nice betting payout, all at the same time.
With 2022 only days away at the time of writing, let’s look at some of the stories that will be on the mind of a lot of bettors as they begin their search for odds on the upcoming tennis season.
Return of several big names following injuries
The last year or two has been tough on a lot of us, what with having to suffer through a number of different restrictions and lockdowns. It also seems to have been a challenging time for several of the world’s best tennis players. Stars such as Serena Williams, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Andy Murray have all had long spells on the sidelines while recovering from a range of different injuries and ailments.
It could be that time is simply catching up to some of these players, that despite their best efforts their bodies aren’t what they were five or 10 years ago and they can no longer hold up under the strain. This certainly appears to be the case for Federer, who has had several issues with his knees in 2021, meaning he will miss the Australian Open. His status beyond that – such as for the French Open and Wimbledon – is unclear.
However, the likes of Nadal, Murray and Williams seem to be slowly making their way back to full fitness and hopefully will appear on the court and on our screens frequently over the next 12 months. Nadal, for example, has good betting odds to win another major in 2022. He is 7/4 favorite to win the French Open again in June. Let’s hope he — and the rest of the big names — can stay injury free for the foreseeable future.
Can Djokovic complete the calendar-year Grand Slam?
If a player wins all four of the major tennis tournaments in the same season, it is known as the calendar-year Grand Slam. In the history of the sport, only five players have ever completed it — with Steffi Graf the most recent in 1988. Even the phenomenal talents of Federer and Serena have never been able to win all four in a single year.
In 2021 Novak Djokovic came as close as anyone can, winning in Melbourne, Paris, and Wimbledon before falling short in New York by losing in straight sets to Daniil Medvedev. It was quite the blow for Djokovic, who was clearly devastated over missing out on such an opportunity.
Can he go on to achieve it in 2022? There is no reason to say he won’t. He is already the oddsmakers favourite to win the Australian Open, with odds of 13/8, and is the 2nd favourite in the French Open, with odds of 12/5. If he can win both of these, he will be right on track, and could go on to achieve something his contemporaries have never managed.
Will Raducanu add to her U.S. Open trophy cabinet?
If the year of 2021 in tennis belonged to anyone, that person was 19-year-old Emma Raducanu. She was a complete unknown at the beginning of the year, ranked as low down as 333rd in the world. She gained some recognition for her performance at Wimbledon, where she made it into the fourth round, but it was at Flushing Meadows where her reputation soared. She made it through the qualifying rounds and then all the way to the final without dropping a single set. She then captured the title, beating Canadian teenager Leylah Fernadez 6-4, 6-3 to claim a truly marvelous victory.
Suddenly, Raducanu was the most talked-about player on the WTA tour, and all eyes were fixed on any tournament she took part in. Perhaps not too surprisingly, she failed to recapture the form she found at the U.S. Open and struggled in the fall without winning another tournament. However, 2022 brings new opportunities – including four attempts to win another slam. Some odds show Raducanu is 5/2 to win a slam this coming season, but she has shorter odds of 2/5 to go without picking up any further slams in 2022.
who has predictions?
Was looking forward to your slam picks and runners up Ricky!
For my part I am longing to laugh in the face and make sarcastic digs at all the people who have written Rafa off.
Vamos Rafa! Rg#14…