tennis | Thursday, January 12, 2023 2:24 PM

Thursday Tennis Best Bet: WTA Hobart, Sofia Kenin vs Elisabetta Cocciaretto

Jon Reid

Sofia Kenin vs Elisabetta Cocciaretto Best Bet: Thursday, January 12th

Disappointing stuff from Simona Waltert, who for the life of her couldn’t manage to break Katherine Sebov – who doesn’t possess a strong serve by any means. I suppose the consolation for me is that it was a fellow Torontonian that cost me my bet!

For Thursday’s selection, it’s off to Hobart, where the resurgent Sofia Kenin takes on Elisabetta Cocciaretto in a matchup of two women that would certainly love to add a title to their resume to open the 2023 campaign!

In this article:

Sofia Kenin vs Elisabetta Cocciaretto Preview
Sofia Kenin vs Elisabetta Cocciaretto Best Bet

Sofia Kenin vs Elisabetta Cocciaretto Preview

January 13th, 3:30 (UK Time)

The first semifinal of the day in Tasmania features Kenin, whose ranking slipped all the way down to the 300 range and Cocciaretto, a woman looking for her first career title above the 125K level.

Neither of these women is likely to be looking ahead to Melbourne, and both surely understand the opportunity at hand.

While I’m a big proponent of the Italian’s game, the current iteration of Kenin is simply one I don’t want to oppose at the moment. A former Australian Open champion, Kenin is well-versed on playing in these quicker conditions, and after a lengthy bout with inconsistency, she finally appears to be regaining the form that once took her to the top of the women’s game.

With an aggressive mindset, decent pace on her groundstrokes and a well-rounded game, Kenin certainly has the potential to be a top-25 player when everything is clicking, and I’m happy to back her to keep her strong start to 2023 going here.

Not only has she beaten the in-form Anhelina Kalinina from a set down this week (the lone time I’ve opposed her this season, and I regret doing so), but she looked incredible against Maryna Zanevska and a flat-hitting Lin Zhu – a player that isn’t the best, but does prefer the quicker courts and conditions found down under. Even her loss to Coco Gauff (the eventual Auckland champion) was respectable, losing 4-6, 4-6 and easily covering the games handicap.

Cocciaretto has incredible consistency and generates a decent pace on her groundstrokes for someone that played primarily on clay for her foundational years and is relatively small, but it’s tough to see what she does that’s more impressive than an in-form Kenin.

Sofia Kenin vs Elisabetta Cocciaretto Best Bet

With regards to how all this translates to the betting markets, it’s worth noting that when players struggle as much as Kenin has and for as long as she did, many are going to be sceptical of a successful run like this.

That can lead to the market being behind the curve when it comes to identifying her true price, and that leads to value being available when backing her.

I find this to be the case with the 24-year-old, as she was clearly undervalued in two of her opening three matches this week.