tennis | Monday, November 7, 2022 9:31 AM (Revised at: Monday, November 7, 2022 9:53 AM)

Monday Tennis Best Bet: WTA 125K Colina, Tamara Zidansek vs Harmony Tan

Jon Reid

Tamara Zidansek vs Harmony Tan Best Bet: Monday, November 7th

Tough end to the week on the women’s selections, as Jessica Pegula loses in what ended up being a disappointing week for the American women at the year-end finals on home soil (Coco Gauff also lost all three of her matches).

This week brings up the Billie Jean King Cup, as well as a 125K event in Colina, Chile. We’ll head to the latter for Monday’s selection (the BJK Cup won’t get underway on Monday), and preview the match between Tamara Zidansek and Harmony Tan

In this article:

Tamara Zidansek vs Harmony Tan Preview
Tamara Zidansek vs Harmony Tan Best Bet

Tamara Zidansek vs Harmony Tan Preview

November 7th, 17:30 UK Time

In what has been a tough season for the 24-year-old Slovenian, Zidansek will look to keep building her form at the end of the season looking towards the 2023 campaign.

Back on her best surface, she has a chance to do so this week, against a less-than-stellar field in Chile. She opens her tournament taking on Tan, who is no clay-court specialist.

With strong point construction, consistency and a forehand that she can dial up the pace with when needed to hit through open spaces, her game is well suited to the red dirt.

In fact, her five career WTA finals have all come on the surface (and they’ve all been at the 125K or 250 level, as well).

Considering Tan plays a game that utilises a lot of slicing and dropshots, the higher-bouncing nature of clay courts isn’t exactly ideal for the Frenchwoman. Her 2-7 record on the year (with wins over the now-retired Samantha Stosur and hard-courter Lauren Davis) represents her struggles fairly well.

After a decent few weeks in Tunisia (a tight quarterfinal loss at the WTA event as an underdog against Alize Cornet, followed up by a final’s appearance in a W60 ITF event), this is a great opportunity for the Slovenian to string together a few wins.

Tamara Zidansek vs Harmony Tan Best Bet

I’m going to side with the more natural clay courter in this one, especially considering her opposition’s struggles on clay.

Giving up a 4.5-game head start is a large number, but there’s still value to be had at this number, with the Frenchwoman consistently failing to cover this handicap in her losses this season, and a propensity to lose sets by a lopsided margin.