Tennis best bets for the Italian Open – Sunday, May 14th
The Italian Open, also known as Internazionali BNL d’Italia, is a 1000-level clay-court tournament for both the men and the women. This is one of the most exciting tournaments of the entire year, and we’ll have best bets for it on a daily basis. With that in mind, keep reading for our tennis best bets for Sunday, May 14th. Also, make sure you actively check out our Pro Picks page, as we have been posting plays there regularly throughout the year. We ended up having a very profitable two weeks in Madrid, with a lot of the winners being posted to that page. We’re hoping to keep it up in the last big event before the French Open.
MORE: Check out our Pro Picks page for everything our experts have
Fabio Fognini vs. Holger Rune
Fognini is coming off a very big win over Miomir Kecmanovic. The Italian now has a tough matchup with Rune, who is one of the top players in the world. However, this is the stage that Fognini lives for. The Italian is going to have the crowd completely behind him in this one, which should give him the adrenaline he needs to play some of his best tennis. The crowd noise could also get to Rune, who can be a bit of a head case.
Rune has a more complete game than Fognini at this point, but the veteran can make this a competitive match if he’s playing well. That’s why we’re taking a shot on Fognini to simply win a set in this match. When he’s ripping shots from the baseline the way he was against Kecmanovic, Fognini resembles a top-20 player. And these odds don’t quite value him as such. I feel Fognini genuinely has a chance to win this outright, but I’m playing it safe by taking +1.5 sets. The odds are still plenty enticing.
Bet: Fognini +1.5 Sets (+130)
Marketa Vondrousova vs. Maria Sakkari
Sakkari might be ranked higher than Vondrousova, but she’s a sizable underdog in this match. This is a fool’s gold type of line, as the oddsmakers are begging you to bet on the Greek star. Well, you never want to be the person to fall for traps like these. With that said, we’d advise going the other way with it by backing Vondrousova.
Vondrousova might be 70th in the world, but a pretty good argument can be made that she’s a top-10 talent. The Czech star has surely made a claim for it in 2023, as she’s 21-7 since the start of the year. Vondrousova has also won some big, big matches, and her victory over Bianca Andreescu was especially impressive last round.
The reality in this matchup is that Vondrousova has just had more success than Sakkari on clay. And the lefty has a big game from the baseline, so she’s not going to get caught off guard by Sakkari’s power. In fact, she can give it right back to her and keep her on the run. Vondrousova should also be the better server between these two, and that’s hard to ignore. Her serve was absurd against Andreescu.
Bet: Vondrousova ML (-160)