The new season is here and with that comes an extensive list of ranking quotes from Unibet who continue to be the only company willing to price and line up a wide range of players. In 2013 The Overrule was successful on quotes involving Mona Barthel and Eugenie Bouchard.
If you've been thinking about dabbling in the rankings market for the 2014 season here are a few options The Overrule believes you should consider.
Tomas Berdych
Unibet have set Berdych's line at 7.5 for 2014 and he finished the 2013 season comfortably in 7th spot. The Czech has finished inside the world's top 7 every year since 2010 and has long positioned himself as one of those tier II players knocking on the door of the very elite of the game but having yet failed to capture a first Grand Slam title.
Berdych experienced Davis Cup success again in 2013 defending the title he and Radek Stepanek won in 2012. That happened to be the only occasion in 2013 that Berdych lifted a trophy as he surprisingly went the whole season without capturing an individual title. After a promising first half of the season with a quarter-final showing at the Australian Open (losing to eventual champion Novak Djokovic), two finals in Marseille (losing to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga) and Dubai (Djokovic) and three semi-final appearances in Masters events at Indian Wells, Madrid and Rome things never took off for Berdych in the form of titles.
Djokovic ousted him again in the last eight of a Grand Slam at Wimbledon and Stanislas Wawrinka ended his tournament in the fourth round of the US Open. A first round loss to Gael Monfils at the French Open means there is plenty of scope there for him to gain some decent ranking points at Roland Garros in 2014.
A third defeat in a final came in Bangkok where he was beaten by Milos Raonic and he reached a fourth Masters semi-final of the season in Cincinnati before the US Open. All in all there was a fair amount of consistency from Berdych over the season, he just wasn't able to cash in at the final hurdle with some silverware. With good health there should be little reason why Berdych won't once again confirm his spot among the best seven players in the world.
Sara Errani
In 2013 The Overrule opposed Errani's title total to a successful conclusion and in 2014 it's her ranking quote that The Overrule believes is worth opposing. Unibet have set the Italian's line at 9.5 and she has finished inside that line for the past two seasons. Errani has overachieved for the past two years, making the very most of her career and experiencing plenty of individual and doubles success relative to expectations.
Late last season the build up of increased expectations and pressure appeared to be weighing heavy on her mind which she spoke openly about. However, that didn't stop her leading Italy to a Fed Cup title at the end of the 2013 season.
Errani won four titles in 2012 and although she only won one in 2013 her general performance for much of the year was consistently impressive in most tour events. Her Grand Slam performances were not as consistent. She backed up reaching the French Open final in 2012 with a last four showing in 2013 but could only win a total of one match in the remaining three Grand Slams.
On that basis there is opportunity for her to gain points across those three Grand Slams and she may well have to if she fails to back up the consistency of finals and semi-finals she put together on the remainder of the tour to maintain her ranking.
The Overrule believes this is the year we start to see Errani begin to slip back outside of the top 10, or at the very least outside of the quote of 9.5, as the volume of matches over the past couple of years in singles and doubles begins to catch up with her.
Garbine Muguruza
As regular readers of The Overrule will know Muguruza is a player that has been touted for future success on the WTA Tour. A top 20 future is definitely within the capability of the Spaniard's grasp in the years to come. Muguruza's 2013 season was cut short by injury which required ankle surgery but she looks good to go in 2014.
Her ranking quote has been set at 60.5 with the under (to finish in the top 60) priced as the marginal favorite. Despite not playing since Wimbledon she was able to end the 2013 season ranked 63 and providing she stays healthy for the majority of the 2014 season there is plenty of upside to believe she will beat her ranking quote for the coming season.
Muguruza lost in the second round of the three Grand Slams she played in and it took strong opposition to take her out each time in the form of Serena Williams, Jelena Jankovic and Ekaterina Makarova. She reached a semi-final in Holland on grass before Wimbledon and previously reached the fourth round at both Indian Wells and Miami where it took Angelique Kerber and Li Na to beat her.
Her potentially best period of the season was lost for her due to injury and that represents a big window of opportunity in 2014 to gain points. A healthy Muguruza should comfortably finish inside the world's top 50 in 2014 and this quote represents the greatest value of the three players identified.
Details of The Overrule's 2014 service can be found here. The Overrule's 2013 season review can be found here. If you have any questions you'd like to ask The Overrule in light of the new season please e-mail at theoverrule@gmail.com or send The Overrule a message on Twitter or Facebook.
