2017 Off-Season

[CzechPunter]

[CzechPunter]

Alright, so the season has now officially ended...and I have to say that I'm really glad it's over. 2017 has been, without a shadow of a doubt, the worst year I've ever had, both personally and betting-wise. It somehow feels that everything that could go wrong did. The very first weeks of the year were disastrous, but I managed to recover after the Australian Open and even get to a very good plus, but it went downhill from then on and I never got on a solid upswing again. Darcis beating Zverev in the Davis Cup was the high point of the year, but I also have memories of Thiem-Querrey in Rome. I had Querrey there for really nice odds, he should've won, but lost it in a final set TB. At that point, I had a feeling that the season will go to...you know where...and it did. The final ROI for the year is 92.86%, which is just absolute crap and the worst result I've ever had year-wise.

As far as the tour is concerned, the dual comeback of Nadal and Federer was definitely the highlight, while the other big guns struggled and most even gave up early, which really makes one pumped up for 2018, the year in which anything can happen. Djokovic is apparently ready to go, with Agassi and Stepanek now in his coaching box. Murray, Wawrinka, Nishikori, Raonic, and Berdych are all in doubt in terms of fitness, so we'll see. Dimitrov is now the big wildcard I reckon, the win at the Finals must've been a big boost confidence-wise. So yeah, it's really hard to predict what's going to happen. Nadal should win the French Open if he's healthy, but that's about the only prediction that I'm willing to make. The biggest question mark is Thiem, while Chung could be the one to shock us all imo.

The WTA continues to be a mess, with big performances being followed by losing streaks. Just look at Sloane Stephens and you'll see what I mean - instead of building on her big US Open win, she just gave up on the season altogether, alongside Madison Keys, the other US Open finalist. Hilarious, especially since there's a possibility that we are now going to see Serena Williams back in Melbourne. I hope she's not going to win that event, for the good of the sport, but it would obviously be a story loved by the media.

I will certainly be looking at some of the season-long markets again, as it seems that I've always been rather successful with them - and I do see some "lesser" players that could really shoot up the rankings in 2018, both in the ATP and the WTA. In any case, those markets aren't going to appear before mid-December, so there is still a lot of time for thinking things through.

For now, I'd like to wish all members of the forum Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and good luck. Thanks for staying with me, liking my posts, and all that jazz - I really appreciate it and it does mean a lot to me, so let's hope that we're all going to meet again for 2018!