1. China Open 2013 Preview
This week sees the ATP tour continues on its ‘Asian Swing’ in Beijing at the China Open. The field is
led by the top two ranked players this season, Rafael Nadal, and defending champion Novak
Djokovic. With Djockovic enjoying an impressive 18-0 win to loss ratio at this event, can he stop the
rampant Rafael Nadal, and retain his spot at the top of the rankings.
Unsurprisingly, the odds suggest it’s a two horse race, making Nadal (2.1 Unibet) as the slight
favourite ahead of Djokovic (2.5 Skybet). Both men bring outstanding records this season, with
Djokovic amassing a 52-9 record, and Nadal a further impressive, 61-3 win to loss ratio this season,
stats well ahead of the rest of the field. This is reflected by the bookies as the next best is world
number five Tomas Berdych at (34 betfair) and world number nine, Stan Wawrinka at (67 betfair).
Looking at the draw, Nadal faces arguably a straightforward route to at least the semi finals where he
is seeded to play Berdych. Djokovic in contrast has a potentially tricky quarter-final matchup against
Wawrinka, the player that took him to five sets at Flushing Meadows just last month. If Djokovic
does progress, he is seeded to meet world number four David Ferrer (50 Unibet), although based on
current form, he is more likely to meet the talented French number one, Richard Gasquet (45 Unibet).
Judging from previous seasons, Nadal tends to struggle towards the later part of the season and at his
current price, it is tempting to look elsewhere for better value, considering he is also comfortably clear
in the race to be world number one at the end of the year. Therefore I suspect Tomas Berdych, a man
who has caused Nadal problems on fast hard-courts to cause a potential upset. After coming off the
back of a runner’s up finish at last week’s Thailand open, losing to Milos Raonic, he should not only
be more match sharp than Nadal, but also more acclimatised to the tricky humidity of the ‘Asian
Swing.’ Back Berdych to reach the final, and snap Nadal’s current undefeated 22-0 record on hard-
courts his season.
However, for me, Djokovic is the most likely to prevail this week. With his desire to retain his
position at the top of the rankings, and his fondness for the tournament itself, the Serb represents
better value at (2.5 Skybet) compared to Nadal.
Tips
Djockovic to win the tournament outright
Berdych each way bet