Game, Set, Bet, presented by BetMGM: Sebastian Korda could win his first title of 2023 in Zhuhai
The American has an incredibly favorable draw at this 250-level event, and it'd be surprising if he squanders the opportunity.
Sebastian Korda has had an up-and-down 2023 season, but the 23-year-old finds himself in a great portion of the 250-level tournament in Zhuhai. Not only are there no Top 10 players in the draw, but Karen Khachanov is the top seed in the event, and he could be Korda’s semifinal opponent. Khachanov is an outstanding player, but injuries have plagued him since the start of the summer. The Russian missed multiple months, and he lost his opening-round match at the US Open when he returned to action. I can see him getting bounced earlier.
But even if he doesn’t, I’d take Korda over him right now. Korda has a clear path to the final, and I love that you can get him to win this tournament at +500 odds at BetMGM.
The best players in the bottom half of the draw are Cameron Norrie, Jan-Lennard Struff and Andy Murray. Of course, all of them are capable of beating Korda on a good day, but none of them would be significantly favored over Korda in a potential final. And considering you’d have +500 odds on Korda at that point, you could very likely hedge and guarantee a profit.
I know Korda has been a tough player to trust, but I think passing on him at these odds would be a mistake. He begins in the round of 16, and the highest seeded player he’d face before the semis is Tomas Martin Etcheverry—whom Korda trounced in Toronto, 6-3, 6-2.
It’s just rare to get these types of odds on a player with a very high floor in a tournament. That’s exactly what Korda has here.