A big couple of weeks coming up in the WTA with Indian Wells and Nasdaq
so should be plenty of betting opportunities. This weeks tournament starts
tonight and is 16 hours behind AEST. Website has livescoring:
http://www.pacificlifeopen.com

There's six first round matches tomorrow involving qualifiers that haven't had lines posted yet so I may add extra games later.

Karatancheva v Weingartner
Indian Wells

Bet of the day - Karantancheva is another teenager with heaps of talent. She's 9-3 for the season with good wins over Peer and Linetskya and has a 40/9 hardcourt career record. While many of Karaantancheva's opponents havebeen lowly rated qualifiers, Weingartner - while competent - has had a mixed season and is 85/107 on hard over her career. In fact Weingartner's ranking has been stagnant for over 12 months while her Bulgarian opponent has been moving forward in leaps and bounds. Karantancheva also
made the third round last year being beaten by Sharapova in a hard fought 3-sets - Weingartner didn't play in 2004 and was defeated in first round of qualifiers in 2003.

Karantancheva $1.70 @ William Hill.


Granville vs Irvin
Indian Wells

Granville (rank 87) is having a mixed season, playing ordinarily at
WTA tournaments but winning her last two challenger tournaments -
St Paul and Midlands (both US hardcourts). These include good wins
against the in-form Morigami and up-and-comer Cho in the finals. Irvin
(ranked 71) is, in short, having a dismal year and is 1-4 this season.Her
only win came against the lowly rated Pisnik on clay. Players that have
beaten Irvin include Frazier, Craybas and Haynes all of whom are similar
in class to Granville. Irvin holds the H2H 1-0 but the game was from 2001
and barely rates mention. Both made the fourth round last year though Irvin
entered the tourney in far better form. A close game but Granville to prevail.

Granville $1.70 Gamebookers & 5Dime


Spears vs Kurhajcova

Spears at home and the hardcourt specialist - 86/60 for career - has had a steady 2005 with good wins over Shaughnessy and Craybas and a close loss to the talented Dulko. Spears hasn't played here too often, being knocked out in the first round of qualifiers last year. Kurhajcova made the second round last year but her form this season has been abysmal, going 1-5 with her only win coming on clay. Her record on hard is 43/45 and she definitely prefers the dirt which accounts for most of her ranking. Having said that, she's capable of an upset but it would require a major form reversal. Spears has stated in interviews that this tournament means a lot to her so I expect her motivation to be high. She also won their only H2H, a closely fought Quebec hardcourt match last year.

Spears $1.56 @ 5Dimes


Notes - Steer clear of Kapros who's coming off an injury in Doha 2 weeks ago (Hip dysfunction). If you like
short odds Craybas should demolish her 14-year-old wildcard entry opponent.