The 73rd edition of the Internazionali BNL d'Itali, or simply put, the Rome Masters is the last of the major events players will partake in before the French Open. Typically, players who do well on the clay in Rome end up translating their success over to Paris where it really counts, so tennis bettors should be paying quite close attention to this throughout.
Tennis betting lines are changing all the time, so check into our tennis odds at BookMaker.eu for the most up-to-date prices on the Internazionali BNL d'Italia.
ODDS ANALYSIS
Basically all of the top men and women in the world are set to come to Rome for the Internazionali BNL d'Italia. The only notable absentee is on the women's side, as Agnieszka Radwanska is going to be sitting out.
Serena Williams hasn't played in a major event in a while, but she's sure to be one of the big favorites to win on her favorite surface, especially with both Radwanska and the suspended Maria Sharapova out of the way. Relatively far behind Williams will be a crop of players including Garbine Muguruza, Victoria Azarenka, Simona Halep and Petra Kvitova. Angelique Kerber will be in there as well, but after crashing out of the Madrid Open early, she'll probably see some longer odds this coming week.
On the men's side, we'll inevitably see the status quo. Novak Djokovic will be an odds-on favorite, while Rafael Nadal, the king of clay, won't be all that far behind. There will be another group with Roger Federer, Andy Murray and Stanislas Wawrinka, but there won't be another player at even 25 to 1 to win the Rome Masters.
A LOOK BACK
Not surprisingly, it was basically all chalk on the men's side throughout this tournament last year. The only one of the Top 8 seeds which didn't advance to the quarterfinals was Murray, who withdrew in the third round injured. Wawrinka upset Nadal in the quarters before losing to Federer in the semis, but Djokovic toppled them all, beating David Ferrer in the semis and Federer in the finals in straight sets.
The women's side of the draw was far more unpredictable. Williams withdrew in the third round due to injury, and as a result, qualifiers were all over the quarterfinals. Daria Gavirlova, Christina McHale and Alexandra Dulgheru were all in the last eight, leaving one fewer qualifier than ranked players in the quarters. When the dust settled, it was Sharapova who outlasted Carla Suarez Navarro in the final in three sets.
PLAYERS TO BET
Samantha Stosur – The Aussie has really played well these last two tournaments, reaching the semifinals of the Madrid Open and the semis of the Prague Open, both tourneys played on clay courts. She didn't play well here last year, getting bounced in the first round, but she's got some hope now for sure. Stosur will be a big underdog as an unranked player, but if you don't want to go with the obvious Williams here, you might find a nice price on Stosur.
Stan Wawrinka – Stan was the man with a lot of value on his head in this tournament, and we think he might be intriguing this week as well. He was beaten by Nadal in his last tourney at Monte Carlo, but if he gets into the quarters at least as we suspect he will, we like his chances against the big guns.
PLAYERS TO FADE
Angelique Kerber – We mentioned at the top that Kerber was in poor form, and we just can't see backing her as a favorite in this tournament. She did play well at Stuttgart a few weeks ago, but she also didn't run into any of the tip top players. With Williams in this field, Kerber faces long odds of winning as the No. 2 seed.
Novak Djokovic – We might be crazy here, but we don't like the price we're going to see on Djokovic, and we don't think he should be an odds on favorite to win this event. He's in the quarters of the Madrid Open as of the publication of this article, but he also crashed out on another clay court in Monte Carlo in his first match. The French Open is the real concern for the Djoker, and his attention should be turned there more than the Rome Masters.
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