Coral’s New Year specials: Anyone for tennis in 2016?

Rangy South Africa player Anderson starts the New Year one place above former US Open champion Cilic in the ATP World Tour rankings.

With Coral running a number of 2016 end of season ranking head-to-heads, an even-money price on Anderson staying above Cilic is not without merit.

Many consider Cilic’s shock Flushing Meadows triumph in the 2014 version of the Grand Slam held there in New York to have been a fluke, and Anderson is a far more consistent tour player than his Croatian counterpart.

Nick Kyrgios is 2016 ATP end of season top ranking Australian

Tennis’ generational gap Down Under has seen Lleyton Hewitt pass the torch, but to which up-and-coming fellow Aussie?

Bernard Tomic, who reached the fourth round of his home Grand Slam in 2015, is the even-money favourite to be the highest ranked player from that country come the end of the New Year.

We prefer to press the claims of cunning Kyrgios, however, and point punters to an attractive 11/8 price on the 20-year-old being top Australian male pro by the end of 2016. He went a round further in Melbourne last year, and is one of the sport’s rising star, despite some controversy.

Johanna Konta is 2016 ATP end of season top ranking Briton

Over on the WTA Tour, Australian-born Konta is a worthy 11/8 favourite to be top of the pile at the end of the year when it comes to the British ladies’ game.

With Laura Robson (3/1) needing to have a stellar 2016 to get back up the rankings after a lengthy injury layoff, and 6/4 chance Heather Watson underwhelming in recent outings, Konta is where the smart money will be in this market.

Agnieszka Radwanska ends 2016 ranked higher than Petra Kvitova

As with Anderson and Cilic above, Polish player Radwanska starts the New Year one place higher than Czech counterpart Kvitova in the WTA World Tour rankings.

It is bold to bet against two-time Wimbledon winner Kvitova in this head-to-head, but Radwanska is fifth in the world going into 2016 entirely on merit.

Awesome odds of 11/10 say that will be the status quo come the end of the year, and Radwanska is worth a wager to stay above Kvitova.

Related

While we look forward to the New Year, there’s also a magnificent 2015 in tennis to reflect on by visiting Coral’s extensive archives.