Swiatek closes on Sabalenka in Australian Open title betting

Iga Swiatek is closing in on Aryna Sabalenka in Australian Open title odds after her one-sided fourth-round victory over Eva Lys on Monday in Melbourne.

The Pole was paying +400 in pre-tournament outright betting but has now shortened to +160 across top online bookmakers, just behind Sabalenka’s odds of +130.

This swing in tennis betting odds is not just a product of the field decreasing in size; third-favourite Coco Gauff remains on +350 to win the Australian Open, the same as her pre-tournament price.

Instead, it comes as a result of Swiatek’s record-breaking form in Melbourne.

The No.2 seed has dropped only 11 games en route to the quarter-finals, just four of which have come in the past three rounds.

Her most recent match — a 6-0, 6-1 win in 59 minutes — improved her winner count to 85 across 59 games this tournament, an average of nearly 1.5 per game.

“I’m happy that I played in an efficient way,” Swiatek said of her victory over Lys.

“I felt pretty confident.

“I kind of always respect the opponent and just want to win more and more.

“[I am] trying not to change my intensity and the way I play because of score.

“You know, I try to do the same even when I’m losing.

“I’m just trying to be consistent with this and always have, like, the same mindset.

“Obviously it’s not easy to do that, but managing this mentality and overall what I think on court is a key for me.

“So I always did that, and I will do that in the future.”

Though Swiatek must beat two more opponents before a potential meeting with world No.1 and two-time defending champion Sabalenka, she gave an insight into her thoughts on the rivalry.

“Honestly I think we’re the most consistent players on tour, and this is also what the rivalry is about,” she said.

“But when we face each other, you know, sometimes, as it was in Cincinnati, it goes to Aryna. Sometimes, like in Rome, it goes to me.

“It’s not always that we have tight matches, but we do, like Madrid final, like US Open semis.

“So I guess, you know, we’re just both good and feel like we are covering every aspect of the game in terms of the preparation.

“We’re just really professional and also pushing each other to work harder.

“You have to just be there, like, on point and 100% ready, because playing top player is always hard.”

Up next, Swiatek faces America’s Emma Navarro on Wednesday.

Tennis bookmakers have her as the overwhelming favourite, with Bovada putting her odds of winning at -1666.67.

Sabalenka, meanwhile, is at -1250 to defeat her quarter-final opponent, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, on Tuesday evening.

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