Last week’s Mutua Madrid might have only just come to a close, but another Hologic WTA 1000 event is already underway. The world’s top women’s tennis competitors are in Rome, Italy this week for the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.
And as the round of 32 gets underway, sportsbooks have their eyes set on one particular athlete to take center stage.
Iga Swiatek defends WTA 1000 Rome
Defending tournament champion Iga Swiatek returns to the court after taking a week of rest. She opted out of last week’s Mutua Madrid due to a shoulder injury. Now, she’s the hands-down favorite for the WTA 1000 Rome Masters. And thanks to Naomi Osaka’s withdrawal earlier this week, oddsmakers have now granted her even more of a preference.
The World No. 1 has already claimed a whopping four singles titles this year. Yep, you read that correctly – Swiatek is on a 4-tournament, 23-match win streak. And if she has it her way, that streak will extend to 5 big victories by the end of this weekend.
Her last tournament appearance was at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, where she took down Aryna Sabalenka for the championship. Before that was the Miami Open, where she defeated Osaka for the crown. And this time last year, she was dominating Karolina Pliskova for the title of this very tournament.
Swiatek never enters a tournament she’s not confident she’ll win. And by the looks of it, oddsmakers are pretty certain she’ll win too.
WTA 1000 Rome Round of 32 odds
Swiatek vs Ruse
Swiatek is scheduled to face off against No. 10 Elena-Gabriela Ruse in the round of 32 on Wednesday. Ruse took on Shelby Rogers in the Round of 64 today, securing her victory in the final two sets.
This marks the first time all year that Ruse has advanced past into Round of 32 play. Unfortunately — since she’s up against Swiatek — her journey will likely soon be coming to an end. As of now, DraftKings doesn’t offer odds on the matchup.
Badosa vs Sasnovich
World No. 2 Paula Badosa visits Rome for the first time this week, entering the tournament in Wednesday’s round of 32. Oddsmakers expect her to advance past opponent Aliaksandra Sasnovich with relative ease, giving Badosa -390 odds of a win compared to Sasnovich’s +290 odds.
Badosa will be on the prowl for her second singles title of the year this week after failing to secure last week’s Mutua Madrid. She took down Veronika Kudermetova in Spain’s round of 62, but she couldn’t keep the streak alive for long, ultimately losing to Simona Halep in the round of 32.
Halep vs Collins
Simona Halep won’t be an issue for Badosa quite yet, though. The Romanian tennis star will have to take down American Danielle Rose Collins first before crossing Badosa’s path again.
According to DraftKings, Halep has a good chance of taking down her next opponent and advancing to the semifinals. Whereas Collins carries +235 odds of a win, Halep holds a more certain -300 odds of a victory.
Sabalenka vs Zhang
Meanwhile, No. 3 Aryna Sabalenka faces Shuai Zhang for what should be an easy victory. Sabalenka carries -650 odds of winning the match against Zhang’s +425 underdog odds.
Sabalenka is still searching for her first singles title of the year, so she should be plenty motivated in the coming matches.
Kontaveit vs Martic
No. 5 Anett Kontaveit will have to make a stand against Petra Martic if she wants a chance at her first tournament victory in Rome.
Kontaveit is favored with -250 odds of a match win, while Martic trails behind at +195 odds.
Underdog upsets or a smooth Swiatek finish?
This annual clay tournament promises to be an action-packed, star-studded event. Other than Osaka, there isn’t a single Top 40 ranked player that will be sitting this one out. That means Swiatek will have plenty of competitors looking to nab her crown.
If this WTA 1000 tournament ends up being anything like last week’s Mutua Madrid, we’re in for quite a few upsets before it’s all said and done with. The only question is — will Swiatek get caught up in the chaos, or will she sweep the competition for her fifth consecutive title victory?
