That’s right, we are covering Tennis here at the DFS Army! As someone who plays and typically excels in the niche sports, I knew right away I wanted to get in on DFS Tennis. I’ve adopted an odds based approach, mixing in current form and playing surface history . It’s been a profitable adventure and I feel comfortable enough to start putting out articles on a (semi) regular basis. This will be great practice for all of us as we head into the U.S. Open which will hopefully have some juicy prize pools.
That being said, this article will be free for now and probably move to VIP only when the U.S. Open starts. That’s no reason to wait to become a VIP member with baseball in full swing and football around the corner…not to mention that signing up now locks in your price forever (take the hint). Become a VIP and use code SNIPER to get a 10% discount automatically applied to your account each and every month.
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MY TENNIS ACES FOR AUGUST 3
Maria Sakkari ($6,200) – That’s right, I’m starting out with a massive value for you…good stuff, right? The odds value on Sakkari is outrageous as she’s only a +110 underdog but is the second least expensive player on the slate. She’s taking on Venus Williams who dropped a set against 133rd ranked Heather Watson in the last round and if you haven’t heard, her family is dealing with some serious personal stuff. I wont’ go into but many have blamed those circumstances on why Serena got bounced early. Sakkari absolutely dismantled 38rd ranked Timea Babos last time out, 6-1, 6-0, and while Venus holds both of the head-to-head wins between these two they were close matches. The value is too good for me to pass up, especially in cash games, and I will have a fair amount of exposure to Sakkari in GPP’s as well.
Svetlina Kuznetsova ($7,900) – More odds-based value here as Kuznetsova has the fourth best odds to win but is priced in the middle of the field at $7,900. Her WTA rankings is down because of some inactivity but I’ll likely always jump at the chance to get the former #2 player in the world at this price point. The past head-to-heads are split 1-1 but Kuznetsova is in fine form having not yet dropped a set in the tournament despite being unseeded. Her opponent Yulia Putintseva is no slouch and I’d probably avoid this match if not for the misprice. That being said, Putintseva has also dropped serve six times in the first two rounds while Kuznetsova has yet to be broken.
Victoria Azarenka ($9,500) – With the value that is available I don’t think there is any need to get cute and leave off the highest priced player and biggest favorite on the day. Even if Azarenka is upset I do think that she will be extremely popular in cash games. Danielle-Rose Clark is a good player but seems to really struggle every time a big-name is put in front of her. Azarenks is exactly that and is not the type of player you expect to see ranked above 100 for very long. I’ll take Azarenka more as a cash game play but on a short slate you should absolutely mix her in your GPP player pool.
Elise Mertens ($6,400) – GPP only alert! The 15th ranked player in the world is a +155 underdog and that just feels wrong to me. I know that Johanna Konta dismantled Serena and breezed through Sofia Kenin. Adding to that is Konta put the rout on Mertens in March, 6-2, 6-1. All of those things make Konta look like the play and I too will be mixing her in. But don’t forget about Mertens, an elite player at $6,400 that everyone is ignoring could win you a GPP if she comes through.
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That’s it guys and girls! Please jump into Slack and find me to talk about the slate and definitely let me know how we can improve our Tennis coverage at DFS Army. If you’re not a VIP member with access to Slack Chat, join today and use code SNIPER for 10% off! It’s a new DFS game and I look forward to watching it evolve with the rest of you.