tennis | Tuesday, September 13, 2022 8:55 AM

Tuesday Tennis Best Bet: WTA Bucharest 125K, Sorana Cirstea vs Simona Waltert

Jon Reid

Sorana Cirstea vs. Simona Waltert Best Bet: Tuesday, September 13th

Nice start to the week, as Beatriz Haddad Maia takes out Clara Tauson in straight sets, despite being broken when serving for the opening set twice and not looking at her best.

Onto Tuesday, and we’ll head to another European event on a different surface in Bucharest, where a WTA 125K event is being staged.

It may be considered a lower-level event, but the field has plenty of WTA Tour talent – including a few Romanians playing on home soil. That includes the World No. 38 Sorana Cirstea, and it’s her match against Simona Waltert we’ll be previewing and betting on.

In this article:

Sorana Cirstea vs Simona Waltert Preview
Sorana Cirstea vs Simona Waltert Best Bet

Sorana Cirstea vs Simona Waltert Preview

September 13th, 11:00 UK Time

Outside of an absolute beatdown suffered in the second round of qualifying at the U.S. Open, it’s been a fairly strong summer for the young gun from Chur, Switzerland.

Since Wimbledon, Waltert has reached the semifinals of three high-level ITF events (winning the lone event played on clay in the Netherlands) and reaching the quarterfinal round on home soil in Lausanne – stunning a top player in Danielle Collins along the way.

With clay as her preferred surface, Waltert is certainly one to watch on the red clay of Bucharest against Cirstea, who will have the support of the crowd.

She’s got a strong first serve, a decent forehand and won’t be overwhelmed by the hitting prowess of Cirstea.

The fact she can also play with rally tolerance and extend rallies should also help her in a matchup against someone who can be rather error prone at times.

As for Cirstea, her game is predicated heavily on a strong serve and an aggressive mentality. While she’s struggled to break through at the highest levels of the sport, she’s consistently maintained her status as a top-40 or top-50 player in the world with a style that – when it clicks for a few hours – can upset some of the very best players out there.

Sorana Cirstea vs Simona Waltert Best Bet

Cirstea may be the deserved favourite in this matchup, but for me, the pricing is skewed a little too heavily in her favour. I think Waltert is far more likely to win this than the odds would suggest.

That has led to the handicap markets also being off by at least a half game, if not a full game. I’ll look to back Waltert in a pair of capacities.