tennis | Monday, January 9, 2023 9:29 AM

Monday Tennis Best Bet: WTA Hobart, Alize Cornet vs Elisabetta Cocciaretto

Jon Reid

Alize Cornet vs Elisabetta Cocciaretto Best Bet: Monday, January 9th

Well it ended up being a dead rubber, but Madison Keys – defending points from her title run in Adelaide a year ago – still had something to play for and it showed, as the American won in routine fashion. She faced break points in just one of her service games, while consistently applying pressure to the Linette serve.

Onto Monday, where we have a whole slew of matches to choose from, as the WTA Tour once again plays an event in Adelaide, with another in Hobart. We’ll look into the matchup featuring Alize Cornet and Elisabetta Cocciaretto in the latter event for our Monday selection.

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Alize Cornet vs Elisabetta Cocciaretto Preview
Alize Cornet vs Elisabetta Cocciaretto Best Bet

Alize Cornet vs Elisabetta Cocciaretto Preview

January 10th, TBD (UK Time)

Tough match here for the Italian, who I actually believe has a pretty decent hard-court game. Despite likely feeling more comfortable on clay courts, her sneaky ability to inject pace into her forehands and relatively consistent play means she’s able to find some success in quicker conditions as well.

Unfortunately, she’s not just coming against a player more comfortable on hard courts, but one who is more comfortable on the surface, is just as – if not more – consistent and has a lot of variety to rely on (think slices and dropshots). The veteran Frenchwoman is also a savvy counterpuncher, and with Cocciaretto providing some power, but not enough to hit through Cornet’s defences, she should be well-positioned to redirect those shots into open spaces.

It’s hard to really see what the Italian actually does in a more accomplished way than her counterpart here, and the price makes it seem as though this is a pretty close matchup. I appreciate that we may see some longer rallies, but with Cornet less likely to concede unforced errors, more clever with constructing points and having a few different ways to end points on her own, I give her a fairly sizable edge.

Alize Cornet vs Elisabetta Cocciaretto Best Bet

Cornet wins this far too often for me to let a price of 1.78 in the betting markets go by. Even the week before a slam, many veterans are looking for at least one or two final tuneup matches before withdrawing with an “injury” or losing a match accidentally-on-purpose. Having only beaten a clay-court specialist at the United Cup and then having lost to Donna Vekic in fairly straightforward fashion, the motivation to find a win or two this week should be there for Cornet.

I’m not too concerned about the proximity of the Australian Open to this one, and am more than happy to back the Frenchwoman in a match I believe she has the clear edge in.