A good betting heat from 4pm on Monday UK time this week as we return to the bread and butter of the WTA tour following an excellent fortnights play at the U.S Open which was the final major of the season.
Their are no Men's tournaments this week as the Davis Cup semi-finals will take centre stage from Friday that will feature Great Britain as they take on Argentina in defence of their title.
We head indoors on the WTA tour and play on fast carpet conditions which have suited the heavy hitters in previous years.
Eugenie Bouchard is the top seed and tournament favourite at 7/2 with Stan James or 100/30 general, she is ranked at 39 in the World right now which is way down from her lofty heights in 2014 and despite fitting the profile of a power hitter is not for me this week having not won back to back matches for so long, let alone string five wins that will be required to lift this trophy as no seeds receive a bye in this event.
Annika Beck at 6/1 is the defending champion and second seed, she leads a strong German challenge along with fourth seed Julia Goerges 9/1 and sixth seed Mona Barthel 16/1 however Beck despite in my opinion being at her best indoors is in poor form coming into this event and has a very tricky opener against the 2008 & 2010 runner-up Bethanie Mattek Sands who bagged a gold medal in the mixed doubles at the recent Rio Olympics.
Preference this week is for the third seed and 2014 Champion, Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, who lost in a close three set battle with Annika Beck last year at the semi-final stages in a brave effort to defend her title.
Lucic-Baroni is always highly motivated at this event and the lightning quick conditions coupled with her all out attacking, front foot game, not many can live with her power especially in a field with minimal strength in-depth such as what is on offer this week.
Lucic-Baroni beat Venus Williams in that 2014 final 6-4 6-3 and at 8/1 with Bet365, Coral, and William Hill should offer great value.
The 34 year old is in prime fitness at present and has reached a final in Strasbourg as recent as May and played fine tennis at the U.S Open blitzing the dangerous Alize Cornet 6-4 6-1 before putting in a very respectable performance against eventual Champion and new World number one Angelique Kerber 2-6 6-7 so also comes into this week fresh having had over a week to prepare for one of her favourite weeks of the season.
The other seed worth noting is the fifth seed Niaomi Broady of Great Britain.
She is showing vast improvement in her
Development, possesses a big serve and goes well on these indoor conditions.
She will eventually come unstuck from a tough bottom half that features our selection Lucic-Baroni but offers the best 1st Round value to win her match at 10/11 with William Hill & Betway to beat French youngster Oceane Dodin who hasn't progressed in the senior ranks as was expected of her and see Broady showing too much power and higher level of tennis with the great form shown coming into this at the U.S Open, that saw her gain a huge win over fellow British player Laura Robson who was on a seven game win streak coming into that match and then put in an eye catching effort against Agnieska Radwanaska who is a top five player in the World.
Recommendations - WTA Quebec City Open
Mirjana Lucic Baroni to win Outright @ 8/1 Bet365, Coral, & William Hill.
1st Round - Monday (From 4pm Timings not confirmed at time of print).
Niaomi Broady to beat Oceane Dodin @ 10/11 William Hill & Betway.
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