WTA Charleston Open Odds & Preview: Paula Badosa the Favorite

• Five of the top 10, but only six of the top 20 are playing the Charleston Open this year
• Indian Wells and Miami champion Iga Swiatek was a late scratch

• Read on as we break down a tournament that’s usually full of surprises

The Charleston Open – with a new, fully renovated look this year – has always been a grab bag in recent years.

Players who don’t anticipate they’ll go a long way during the American winter hard-court swing enter. But then, as things develop, many decline the invite.

Notably, this year, Indian Wells and Miami champion Iga Swiatek, the new No. 1, withdrew Saturday.

So the field is uneven. And that can lead to surprises.

WTA Charleston Open Singles Odds

Odds as of April 3 at BetMGM

If you’re new to betting on this sport, take a look at SBD’s Tennis Betting Basics guide.

In addition to Swiatek, the tournament lost Garbiñe Muguruza, Elina Svitolina, Danielle Collins and Jelena Ostapenko out of the top 20. It also lost Simona Halep.

They were able to add No. 1 seed Aryna Sabalenka as a wild card.

But Sabalenka is really, really struggling this year. No one is going to think being in her section of the draw is a bad outcome.

Defending Champion Kudermetova in Tough

The surprise winner a year ago, when the tournament was played behind closed doors, was No. 15 seed Veronika Kudermetova.

She defeated unseeded Danka Kovinic in the final.

Previous Charleston Open Winners and Finalists

Kudermetova lost in the fourth round in Miami and would normally have had plenty of time to adapt to the Har-Tru surface.

But she stayed in south Florida all the way through to Sunday. She and Elise Mertens, the No. 1 seeds, went all the way to the doubles final. So that won’t help matters for her in terms of making the surface change.

Being in Paula Badosa’s section of the draw, with Badosa the favorite to win the whole thing, also won’t help her chances to defend.

On the plus side, Kudermetova squeezed in as the No. 8 seed. And so she will have a first-round bye and a slightly later start. As well, her first match will be against the winner of a match between two qualifiers; the qualifying draw this year in Charleston is not the strongest.

Charleston Open Top Seeds – Best Previous Results

Watch out for Ons Jabeur

Jabeur, arguably the best clay-court player in the draw, has had her moments in Charleston.

Just last year she made the semifinals at the main event, and followed that up with a run to the final in the WTA 250 tournament added the following week.

Hi Charleston! 😃💗

📸 @CharlestonOpen pic.twitter.com/q6Zgm0o1Fm

— Ons Jabeur Fan Club (@OnsJabeurFans) April 3, 2022

She probably should have won that one. But the nerves kicked in.

Jabeur was the strong favorite against relatively obscure Aussie Astra Sharma, as she looked for her first career WTA Tour title.

And it was Sharma who came away with the title.

Since then, Jabeur broke the duck by winning her first title, on grass in Birmingham last summer.

And she also broke into the top 10.

Jabeur lost her opener at Indian Wells to Daria Saville. She did better in Miami, where Danielle Collins (seeded No. 9 to her No. 8) beat her in the fourth round. So she’ll have had plenty of time to adapt to the surface change. And she will be keen to start the clay-court part of the season – especially as she has a lot of points to defend in these two weeks.

Best Bet: Paula Badosa (+550)

Good Longshot: Ons Jabeur (+1000)