EUROPEAN OPEN- ANTWERP, BELGIUM 2016 (INDOOR HARD)

The European Open is a new tournament in the 2016 ATP World Tour. Let’s have a brief look at the stars who could emerge as the first time winner here in Antwerp, Belgium.

Favourites:

Goffin and Gasquet

Considering Goffin’s recent form, I have to agree with the bookies that he is the right favourite for this tournament which is played on his home turf, in Belgium. Odds of 3 on the Betfair Outright market surely looks value at the moment and should shoot down in the coming days.

Gasquet has the experience on hard courts and his form isn’t shabby. If Goffin messes up, the Frenchman should be good enough to win this title. Richard is priced just under 8 on Betfair currently.

Next in Order:

Simon and Ferrer

Simon played poorly at the US Open, losing to unseeded Lorenzi. He then went on to play pretty well at home in ATP Metz losing only to eventual finalist Dominic Thiem. At Shanghai last week, he played quite well again beating the likes of Wawrinka and Sock and losing only to eventual winner Andy Murray.

Even though he lost early at Shanghai to compatriot F.Lopez, David Ferrer’s form isn’t too bad as he did reach the semi finals in Beijing, losing only to Andy Murray.

Both Simon and Ferrer are priced around 8 – 9 by bookies.

Outsider Bets:

Edmund and Kovalik

Edmund lost only to Andy Murray at Beijing after dominating the start of the match. He then lost to Wawrinka in the more recent ATP Shanghai after beating the likes of Lajovic and Delbonis. Considering the Brit is high on confidence there is some value in these odds of 15 priced by bookies.

Kovalik is my best outsider tip of this tournament.
In my opinion, this guy is getting better and better and has all the elements in his game to make him a very decent hard court player in the future. Unfortunately for Kovalik, he is placed in the same section as Goffin which will be quite a mountain to climb. Still, I believe odds of close to 50 looks quite high on the young Slovakian.

PREDICTION:

David Goffin couldn’t have asked for a better draw as all his main rivals – Gasquet, Simon and Ferrer are placed in the bottom half of the draw. That should mean Goffin is a great bet to reach the finals here in Antwerp.

My prediction would be a Goffin vs Gasquet/Simon final where I would back the Belgian coming out on top.

It’s also worth pointing out that Goffin needs every ranking point he can get to sneak into the ATP Tour Finals tournament that is fast approaching. Hence, there is more logic in backing him, especially at home in Belgium.

Thanks for reading..

Patrick Ross