The 2016 tennis season wraps up this week, with the ATP Tour Finals taking place in London. The end of year tournament takes the top eight from across the campaign and pits them against each other at the O2 Arena. Ahead of the event, take a look at our predictions, plus get the latest and best betting odds through our odds comparison.
Last weekend saw a big switch at the summit of world tennis, as Novak Djokovic’s two and a half year stay at the top of the rankings came to an end. Andy Murray won the Paris Masters, but an appearance in the final was enough to lift him ahead of the Serbian. Now, in the final tournament of 2016, the two are fighting it out for the honour of ending the year as world number one. Just who will manage it?
This tournament is a little different to most in tennis, with the eight players broken up into two pools of four. Those groups are named after former legends. There are six matches per group, with the top two in each pool booking a semi-final spot.
Djokovic is widely expected to top his group. He’s joined in it by the three biggest priced outsiders in the tournament. To show how dominant he’s expected to be, the French Open winner is best priced at 1/7 with Betfair to win his opening match against Dominic Thiem. His opponent is priced at 11/2 with Sky Bet.
Coral have Djokovic at 8/15 to win group Ivan Lendl, despite his recent struggles. The Serbian went out at the last 64 stage of the Olympics, while he lost the US Open final to Stan Wawrinka. His slump down the rankings has been coming for a while, it was finally confirmed by his quarter-final defeat to Marin Cilic last weekend. Ending that poor run here is going to be difficult, even if the bookies are backing him.
There’s much better value in the other game in that group, with Milos Raonic taking on Gael Monfils. Betfair make the Canadian 10/11 favourite to win his opening pool match, which seems like great value. He’s been to the Wimbledon final this season, while he reached last weekend’s Paris Masters semi. He only went out there after injury forced him to withdraw. We’re expecting better here.
Murray is also heavily backed to win his group, which is named after Joe McEnroe. Bet365 make the world number one the 8/13 favourite to top the pool, with Wawrinka next at 4/1. The US Open winner will be Murray’s main opponent in the group. The Swiss is somehow evens with Sky Bet to win his opening match against Kei Nishikori. Given that he’s third favourite for this tournament, we suggest backing him to win his opening clash at those very generous betting odds.
If you’re looking for the latest odds on any of the round robin games at the World Tour Finals, then check out our odds comparison. It’s the quickest way to find the best odds available on each market across a wide range of events. If you’re following our betting tips or your own predictions, it’s a great tool to ensure you get the biggest possible return from your stake. Checking the odds comparison saves you trawling through each individual bookmaker in order to find the best price.
While the round robin games ae entertaining, the main event is the knockout rounds, which are expected to set up a Murray/Djokovic final. Oddly, those two are both above evens to take the win here. It seems like the Serb’s fall from grace has opened up the betting odds, while Murray isn’t yet being backed in to odds-on.
The Scot is the 11/8 favourite with Betfair in the outright winner betting. Sky Bet make Djokovic 6/4 to win, which shows how tight it is between those two. Wawrinka is considerably further back, at 9/1 with 888Sport. Given how far the Serbian has slumped, and how quickly Murray has taken his place, we’re backing the Scot to cement his place at the top of the ATP rankings. His price of 11/8 looks like great value, seeing as he’s won all four tournaments he’s entered since the US Open.
Before you go betting on the World Tour Finals, don’t forget to check our odds comparison. It will have betting odds for each round robin match, plus outright markets like group winner and tournament winner. Whoever you end up backing in each, do it with the very best odds available to ensure maximum returns from your barrage of betting winners!