After returning to the winners\u2019 circle on Sunday, Andy Schooler has three big-priced fancies for this week\u2019s ATP tournaments in Vienna and Basel.<\/p>\n
Tennis betting tips: ATP Tour<\/p>\n
1pt e.w. Hubert Hurkacz in the Swiss Indoors at 25\/1 (Coral, Ladbrokes)<\/p>\n
0.5pt e.w. Ugo Humbert in the Swiss Indoors at 28\/1 (Betfred, Coral, Ladbrokes)<\/p>\n
0.5pt e.w. Matteo Berrettini in the Erste Bank Open at 66\/1 (General)<\/p>\n
Sky Bet odds<\/a> | Paddy Power<\/a> | Betfair Sportsbook<\/a> | Free bets<\/a><\/p>\n Erste Bank OpenVienna, Austria (indoor hard)<\/p>\n Six of the world\u2019s top 10 are in what is a stacked field in Vienna, including two of the top three.<\/p>\n World number one-in-waiting Alex Zverev is the top seed, followed by Carlos Alcaraz and those are also the top two in the market.<\/p>\n At almost twice the price, preference would be with Zverev (4\/1) if forced to pick between the two.<\/p>\n However, the 2021 champion spoke of being jaded in Shanghai where it was also evident. He\u2019s since had a week off but after a long, hard campaign, I do wonder whether the German has much left to give in these closing weeks of the campaign.<\/p>\n Even if he does, the two big targets from here have to be the ATP Finals and the Davis Cup Finals. With that world number one spot already locked in, I\u2019m not sure motivation levels this week will be that high.<\/p>\n As for Alcaraz, he\u2019s not been at his best since returning from long-term injury at the US Open.<\/p>\n He did manage to ease through week one in New York but was found wanting when things got tougher. Since then, he has won in Tokyo but lost unexpectedly to Zizou Bergs in Shanghai.<\/p>\n The Spaniard hasn\u2019t looked completely happy with his game and the indoor season has never been Alcaraz\u2019s strongest \u2013 conditions are not ideal, while it often comes after nine months of slog with plenty of matches under the belt. Indeed, just one of his 27 ATP titles has come indoors and that \u2013 in Rotterdam in 2025 \u2013 was in slower conditions than these.<\/p>\n Organisers have confirmed the same Rebound Ace surface and Dunlop balls as last year will be used and so it should be medium-fast in Vienna.<\/p>\n With Alcaraz just 11\/5, facing a tricky opener against Karen Khachanov and being in the same half as Almaty champion Daniil Medvedev, I\u2019m happy to swerve.<\/p>\n While admittedly the champion here is likely to come from those top-10 players in attendance, I\u2019m not really keen on any of them at the odds.<\/p>\n Medvedev is probably the most tempting at 8\/1 but he\u2019s played a lot of tennis of late, competing in each of the last five weeks. Fatigue \u2013 or a niggle \u2013 will likely kick in at some point.<\/p>\n Instead, I\u2019m going to take a punt on a real long shot in what looks the weakest quarter of the draw and that\u2019s Q2 where the seeds are Flavio Cobolli and Alex de Minaur.<\/p>\n I think 66\/1 about\u00a0MATTEO BERRETTINI\u00a0looks a bit on the large side.<\/p>\n The quick conditions will suit his big serve, which, alongside the forehand, has always been his major weapon.<\/p>\n Despite some disappointing recent form, he has been proving tough to break \u2013 his most recent matches have both been settled by a single break of serve. Kyrian Jacquet beat him on those slow Lyon courts, while Brandon Nakashima edged him out in Shanghai.<\/p>\n Eight missed break points across those matches tell the story and a weak return game does help explain why Berrettini is the price he is.<\/p>\n So, too, does the fact that he\u2019s never made an indoor final on the ATP Tour.<\/p>\n That\u2019s surprising for a player of his ability and the weapons he has, although it\u2019s also interesting that he\u2019s come as close in Vienna as he has anywhere of reaching such a final.<\/p>\n He\u2019s a former semi-finalist here and has also made the quarter-finals in each of the last two seasons.<\/p>\n Tomas Martin Etcheverry, Cobolli and De Minaur doesn\u2019t look the toughest (possible) route to the last four in this draw and I\u2019m prepared to take a punt on the former top-10 star.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not that long since Berrettini was a Roland Garros quarter-finalist and beating Arthur Fils at Wimbledon. If things click again this week \u2013 and in these conditions that\u2019s more than possible \u2013 66\/1 could soon be an awful lot shorter.<\/p>\n Swiss IndoorsBasel, Switzerland (indoor hard)<\/p>\n Novak Djokovic and Ben Shelton are battling for favouritism in Basel where they stick with GreenSet courts and Dunlop balls \u2013 it\u2019s usually faster than average here.<\/p>\n Both players are in the top half of the draw, as is Jiri Lehecka, which means only one of the top three in most betting markets can reach the final.<\/p>\n That immediately makes me look towards the opposite half in search of value and one name stands out.<\/p>\n HUBERT HURKACZ\u00a0isn\u2019t ranked high enough to be among the seeds here these days but the 2023 runner-up has the form to contend.<\/p>\n He comes in off a fine Asian swing during which he reached the Chengdu final and the semis in Beijing, where injury got the better of him.<\/p>\n The Pole recovered in time to beat Djokovic in Shanghai where he only lost 7-6 in the third set to eventual champion Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.<\/p>\n His serve was broken just 12 times in the 13 matches he played across those three tournaments. Aces rained down, while the first-serve points won percentage was regularly above 80%.<\/p>\n I do believe he\u2019s at his best on a slightly higher-bouncing court where the ball comes into his forehand strike zone better but the fact he\u2019s been to the final here before suggests that\u2019s not a massive issue.<\/p>\n Two of Hurkacz\u2019s eight ATP titles have come indoors and, at 28\/1, I think he\u2019s worth a dabble to add another here.<\/p>\n A tough opener against second seed Arthur Fils has been avoided with Hurkacz moved in the draw following the withdrawal of Davidovich Fokina. He\u2019ll now face Zizou Bergs first.<\/p>\n Fils (a possible semi-final foe) remains a threat in this section but it\u2019s worth remembering he\u2019s hot-footing it from Brussels where he was in semi-final action on Saturday. OK, it\u2019s not a long distance to travel but there are different conditions to bed into and with no first-round byes, he\u2019ll be back in action on Monday or Tuesday.<\/p>\n Rafael Jodar and Taylor Fritz are the other seeds in this half and I\u2019m not convinced either has the ideal conditions for his game this week \u2013 both are yet to win indoors at tour level.<\/p>\n Back in the top half, Djokovic is quite capable of winning this if he replicates his form from Beijing where he won the title earlier this month.<\/p>\n However, he did lose first up in Shanghai (to Hurkacz) where we saw him last, likely fatigued after his efforts of the previous week.<\/p>\n He should be refreshed here and there won\u2019t be any hot and humid conditions to deal with now they are back playing indoors for the rest of the season.<\/p>\n There is, however, another awkward opener in store with\u00a0UGO HUMBERT\u00a0awaiting the Serb.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t tend to have too many regrets with my previews \u2013 when I look back at what I\u2019ve written after an event, most of the time I\u2019d do the same thing again \u2013 but a couple have combined to hurt in the past couple of weeks.<\/p>\n First, I deleted Davidovich Fokina from my recommended bets before he won at a huge price in Shanghai and then, last week, I put up Humbert when I wasn\u2019t certain of conditions in Lyon.<\/p>\n Instead of it being pretty quick, as I (and others) had expected, it was sluggish and gave Humbert little chance.<\/p>\n This week, history suggests he will get his preferred conditions and I\u2019m sure he\u2019ll look to come forward behind his big, lefty, first serve.<\/p>\n His only previous meeting with Djokovic brought a heavy defeat, although that was seven years ago at Wimbledon. While he\u2019s still got it, the current version of Djokovic is not the 2019 one.<\/p>\n For those who didn\u2019t read last week\u2019s preview, here’s a reminder of Humbert’s recent indoor tournament results (most recent first): L32-SF-L16-SF-RU-W-RU-L16-L32-W-W.<\/p>\n That\u2019s five finals in his last 11 indoor events, plus two semi-final appearances.<\/p>\n One of those semis came here last year, when Fritz was among his victims, while he also reached the Basel last four in 2023.<\/p>\n The problem with decisions like the Davidovich Fokina one is you really do not want to do it again.<\/p>\n At another time, I\u2019d have likely just mentioned Humbert as a possible bet and left it at that.<\/p>\n In the current circumstances, I live in fear of what will happen if I don\u2019t back him so it\u2019s a minimum-stakes bet at 28\/1.<\/p>\n Posted at 19:00 GMT on 25\/10\/26<\/p>\n Safer gambling<\/p>\n We are committed in our support of safer gambling.<\/p>\n Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.<\/p>\n If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline \/ GamCare<\/a> on 0808 8020 133.<\/p>\n Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org<\/a> and gamblingtherapy.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After returning to the winners\u2019 circle on Sunday, Andy Schooler has three big-priced fancies for this week\u2019s ATP…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":815256,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[17477,267537,9475,870,11818,267536,22221,144845,26059,6766,101,93363,118,88123,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-815255","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-alex-de-minaur","tag-alex-zverev","tag-ben-shelton","tag-carlos-alcaraz","tag-daniil-medvedev","tag-erste-bank-open","tag-flavio-cobolli","tag-hubert-hurkacz","tag-matteo-berrettini","tag-novak-djokovic","tag-sports","tag-swiss-indoors","tag-tennis","tag-ugo-humbert","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/815255","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=815255"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/815255\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/815256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=815255"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=815255"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=815255"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}