Does Sloane Stephens Offer Value to Win the Australian Open Women’s Singles?

• The Australian Open Women’s Singles Round 3 begins tonight
• With so many top-ranked players still alive, how have the favorites’ odds adjusted?
• Could the 4th Quarter offer the best path to the final?

With two rounds of the Australian Open now in the books and few upsets having played out on the women’s side, competition is getting extremely tight across almost every quarter of the tournament.

Follow each player’s 2019 Australian Open odds as we pair down to the final 32 of the tournament. 

Outright odds have shortened among the favorites, especially for each of Angelique Kerber and Sloane Stephens from the 4th Quarter.

2019 Australian Open Women’s Singles Odds

*For a full list please visit the link in the table

Favorites Continue to Move On

Each of the players priced as top 10 favorites prior to the tournament still remains. By WTA Rankings the highest seeded players to be eliminated thus far are 10th seed Daria Kasatkina in Round 1 and ninth seeded Kiki Bertens in Round 2.

Overall, only three ladies ranked inside the top 21 have exited the tournament.

SLOANE SAILS THROUGH | American fifth seed Sloane Stephens sailed through to round three in Melbourne after a 6-3, 6-1 win over Timea Babos.

“I know I haven’t done well here the last few years … [so] putting the emphasis on trying to start the year on a good foot.” 👊🏾 pic.twitter.com/5V3iIbPKnt

— Black Spin Global (@BlackSpinGlobal) January 16, 2019

Fifth ranked Sloane Stephens has seen her odds shorten after two rounds to bring home the title. The American had average odds of +1600 after the tournament draw, but now sits at +1000. Stephens has had little trouble getting past both Taylor Townsend and Timea Babos, each in straight sets.

World number two and the tournament’s second favorite, Angelique Kerber, has also seen her odds shorten now down to an average of +600 from +900 earlier. The German has also faced little resistance in two straight sets wins over Polona Hercog and Beatriz Haddad Maia.

One top ranked player to see her odds drop is top seed Simona Halep. The Romanian currently has no coach and ended last season recovering from a back injury.

The match wasnt as emotionally exhausting as R1 vs Kanepi but still a rollercoaster. Simona started up, went down, but raised her level of play to get the win. Simona Halep defeated Sofia Kenin 6-3, 6-7, 6-4.#AusOpen pic.twitter.com/zQxjUSzgnv

— Romanian Tennis (@WTARomania) January 17, 2019

She’s needed three sets in each of her first two rounds to advance and faces Venus Williams in Round 3. Should she advance, it will likely mean a showdown in the fourth round against tournament favorite Serena.

Could 4th Quarter Be the Easiest Path?

For all the ranked players among the top 32 still alive in the AO, the 4th Quarter may have the clearest quarter-finals matchup in its future. A quick look at the remaining players in other Quarters include:

• 1st Quarter: Players ranked 1st, 7th, 16th, 18th, 27th
• 2nd Quarter: Players ranked 4th, 6th, 12th, 13th, 17th, 21st, 28th
• 3rd Quarter: Players ranked 3rd, 8th, 11th, 15th, 30th

Now move down to the 4th Quarter and that competition lightens just a little as its highest ranks only include the WTA’s 2nd, 5th, 19th and 31st ranked players.

Angelique #Kerber scores career's 100th Grand Slam victory beating Beatriz Haddad Maia 6-2 6-3! pic.twitter.com/98rHRaZrNc

— We Are Tennis (@WeAreTennis) January 16, 2019

Those second and fifth ranked players are of course Kerber and Stephens. With the two placed at the top and bottom of the Quarter they could be on a crash course to meet in the quarter-finals.

Should that be the case, you may be able to find some value on a Stage Of Elimination bet. If they meet two rounds from now someone will need to lose, so betting each of them at plus-money to go out in the quarter-finals could return a profit.

Stages Of Elimination Odds

If an outright bet is more your style, Stephens has to be worth a bet. However you should still bet it through the Stage Of Elimination market as it’s offering +1600 compared to the +1000 outright price.

Should Stephens and Kerber meet for the right to move onto the semis, Stephens holds the decided advantage having won five of six head-to-head meetings. That includes wins in each of their past five matches.