tennis | Friday, June 10, 2022 7:35 AM (Revised at: Friday, June 10, 2022 10:00 AM)

Friday's WTA Tennis Best Bet: Nottingham, June 10th

Jon Reid

WTA Nottingham Best Bet: MARTINCOVA VS. ZHANG

Friday, June 10th, 11:00 (UK Time)

Friday’s WTA selection once again comes from the tournament in Nottingham, England. For the second day on the trot, it’s an underdog that is priced too cheaply that I’ll be looking to back.

This time it’s Shuai Zhang, at well over evens, taking on Tereza Martincova.

First, it’s important to understand the factors as to why Martincova is the favourite in this situation in the first place. First is the form this week in her prior two matches. The serve is clicking, as she’s won over 60% of second serve points and faced just a pair of break points in four sets played. Considering her first match was against a serve-oriented Oceane Dodin and her second against Magda Linette – who can struggle to generate pace and attack – neither is the most comparable to Zhang.

The other factor was her 8-3 record on grass a year ago. Again, though, six of those wins came against much less talented players, with another against the ever-mercurial Jelena Ostapenko.

This appears to be a massive overreaction in a few regards, pricing Martincova as the favourite.

Zhang not only possesses the advantage in being able to dictate points and use the quick, slick grass surface to her advantage with aggressive play, but quicker courts are where she thrives.

Her career success on quick hard courts and grass stands in stark comparison to the lack thereof on slower hard courts and clay. All five of her WTA tour finals appearances have come on quick surfaces. Her flat ball is far more effective, and when she takes the ball early, it takes away more time from her opposition than the slower courts would.

While unavoidable that Martincova’s play this week has been thoroughly impressive, I’m not convinced that in this particular matchup that success is poised to continue.

Going to back another underdog from Nottingham on Friday.