Preview

I expect quite a few betting opportunities this week with tournaments at Eastbourne and Hertogenbosch.


Eastbourne is the only Tier 2 tournament on grass so a lot of top players are here as a warm-up to Wimbledon.

Svetlana Kuznetsova is back to defend her title, Mauresmo and Myskina are here to polish their skills - Mauresmo says she wants to work on her net game - and Molik who'll be trying to reverse her disappointing result at Birmingham. Clijsters (who's playing on grass for the first time in 2 years), Zvonareva, Likhovtseva (who took Birmingham off due to fatigue) and Dechy make up the remaining seeds.

Plenty of other top players are here including Jankovic, Ivanovic, Asagoe, Hantuchova (2004 finalist), Sprem and Vaidisova so there will be some good betting opportunities.

Note that Henin-Hardenne isn't playing as doctors have advised her she needs rest. The virus that kept her out for so long last year is still in her system.


Hertogenbosch is the second event this week and while a weaker tournament, there's still a few good players here for a Wimbledon warm-up. The top seeds are Top 10 players Dementieva and Petrova while the likes of Schnyder, Pierce (2004 winner), Safina and a host of clay-courters including Medina-Garrigues, Dulko, Groenefeld and Koukalova (2004 finalist), round out the field.

Below this group are the young up-and-comers like Kirilenko, Safarova and Krajicek who'll be playing her home tournament (though she's here as a wildcard). Then there's the veteran brigade led by none other than Martina Navratilova who just refuses to quit. She's joined by the likes of Shaughnessy, Smashnova and Peschke.

The high ranking clay players may provide a few bets as they're always worth opposing on the faster surfaces. Some of the young guns may also be worth backing against a few of the rusty veterans - most notably Smashnova.


Back Monday.