Hiram Moreno
The 2022 WTA National Bank Open, otherwise known as Canada Masters, is another key tournament due to the massive amount of ranking points it offers, as well as its juicy cash prizes.
It will be the sixth ATP 1000 tournament to be played this year, and will serve as preparation for the players who surely have their eyes set on the US Open, which is scheduled for late August.
Unlike the ATP tournament, the women’s tournament will be held in Toronto, Ontario, at the Aviva Centre, where several renowned tennis players will gather to try to win the trophy, last won by Camila Giorgi. We invite you to stay with us at JefeBet to evaluate the possible candidates for the title in Canada.
Picks and Predictions for the National Bank Open of the 2022 WTA Tour
Where: Aviva Centre, Toronto, Canada
When: August 8 – August 14, 2022
Favorites
Iga Swiatek (Odds 4/1)
Iga Swiatek has been the most dominant tennis player on the WTA circuit in 2022. The Polish player arrives as a clear favorite to win the title after having won four of the five WTA 1000 tournaments that preceded this 2022 WTA National Bank Open, and will try to improve her last result in the competition, when she lost in the round of 16 to Naomi Osaka.
Additionally, Swiatek won the 2022 Roland Garros, although her results since then have not been the best, losing in the round of 32 at Wimbledon to Alize Cornet and in the quarterfinals at the Polish Open to Caroline Garcia.
Anett Kontaveit (Odds 8/1)
Kontaveit’s year hasn’t been great, but she starts as the second seed in this competition. Her performance has been rising prior to this 2022 WTA National Bank Open, so she will hope that this will help her to avoid being eliminated in the first round as it happened in the previous edition.
After early eliminations at the WTA 1000 in Rome (Petra Martic in the round of 32), Roland Garros (Ajla Tomljanovic in the first round) and Wimbledon (Jule Niemeier in the second round), the Estonian reached the Hamburg final, where she lost to Bernarda Pera, and the quarterfinals in Prague, where she lost to Anastasia Potapova.
Maria Sakkari (Odds 10/1)
Maria Sakkari is definitely seen as a favorite; she is ranked third in the world and the third seed in the competition. However, her recent results have been disappointing, being eliminated in the third round at Wimbledon to Katjana Maria, and before that losing in the second round at Eastbourne to Anhelina Kalinina.
Two of her last three WTA 1000 tournament appearances saw the Greek unable to advance past the round of 32, despite reaching the final in Indian Wells and the semifinal in Doha, losing to Iga Swiatek in both instances.
Sleeper Picks
Ons Jabeur (Odds 12/1)
Ons Jabeur is the fifth seed in this WTA National Bank Open, but there is no player on fire right now like the Tunisian, and she might easily improve on her previous performance in this tournament, when she fell in the quarterfinals to Jessica Pegula.
Jabeur has reached the final of four of the last five tournaments she has participated in, winning in Berlin against Belinda Bencic and at WTA 1000 Madrid against Jessica Pegula, while she lost at WTA 1000 Rome to Iga Swiatek and at Wimbledon to Elena Rybakina, so a run to the latter stages of the tournament is to be expected from her.
Paula Badosa (Odds 15/1)
Despite being ranked one position higher than Jabeur in the WTA rankings, Paula Badosa arrives in worse shape than the Tunisian. However, the Spaniard has shown that she has the potential to go far when she plays at her best.
Badosa has failed to reach the quarterfinals in any of the last five tournaments she has participated in, which include two WTA 1000s in Rome and Madrid. However, playing in North America seems to suit her, with her best WTA 1000 tournament results this season occurring in Indian Wells (eliminated in the semifinals by Maria Sakkari) and Miami (eliminated in the quarterfinals by Jessica Pegula), so playing in Canada could suit her well.
Dark Horse
Karolina Pliskova (Odds 20/1)
The tournament’s 14th seed and #15 in the WTA world ranking is not widely expected to win, but she could be a force to be reckoned with in the 2022 National Bank Open in Canada, despite having been eliminated in the second round in her previous two tournaments (Wimbledon and Eastbourne).
Pliskova reached the final of the 2021 edition, where she lost to Camila Giorgi and her previous participation in the competition saw her reach the quarterfinals, where she lost again to eventual champion Bianca Andreescu, so she has experience in this tournament.
