WTA Italian Open winner predictions, odds and tennis betting tips

Free tennis tips, best bets and analysis for the WTA Italian Open, which starts in Rome on Monday.

Best bet

Iga Swiatek to win WTA Italian Open
1pt 11-2 bet365

Outright preview

The betting for the WTA Italian Open is headed by defending champion Simona Halep and world number one Ashleigh Barty but there is justification for opposing both players in Rome.

Halep failed to make it beyond the last 16 of the Madrid Open last week, losing to Elise Mertens, who was seeded ten places below her, and the Romanian finds herself in arguably the tougher half of the draw.

The 4-1 about her lifting the trophy looks a tad short, and at the same price punters may now have reservations about backing Barty.

The Australian has been on fire on clay but saw her 16-match winning run on the surface come to an end with her 0-6 6-4 4-6 defeat to Aryna Sabalenka in the final of the Madrid Open on Saturday.

There is no denying that Barty is still the player to beat on this surface but the nature of her first-set thrashing will have raised some eyebrows and cast doubts over how quickly she can bounce back in Italy.

It is asking a lot of Sabalenka to emulate her Madrid heroics so swiftly in Rome, while this is not the favourite surface of Naomi Osaka and Serena Williams has not featured since the Australian Open.

With that in mind, Iga Swiatek could be the value selection at 11-2.

There is no questioning the Pole's prowess on clay – she won her first Grand Slam at last year's French Open – and there was a lot to like about her performance in Spain, where she pushed Barty close in the last 16.

She opens her campaign against America's Alison Riske – a player she beat without breaking sweat at the end of last month – and could go far in Rome.

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