betting

Welcome to Rick's Picks, where OnTennis's Ricky Dimon will be making weekly picks for ATP and WTA tournaments and offering betting advice.
With the Australian Open just over a month away, it's not too early to get started with an early look at the men's odds to win!
Note: these odds are approximate, appearing to be the average of all the betting sites that are out there.

A spectator suspected of involvement in illegal betting was threatened with ejection during world number one Justine Henin's shock defeat at the Dubai Open.
 
Henin's 7-6, 7-6 loss to Francesca Schiavone was her first in 18 matches and five years at Dubai and her first to the Italian, and during it a man in the stands was watched at length talking on a mobile phone.
 

Italian Giorgio Galimberti has been banned from tennis for betting on the outcome of matches.

The former Davis Cup player was found guilty of betting on matches contrary to the ATP's anti-corruption programme and banned for 100 days.

Galimberti, who has won one doubles title on the tour and holds a career-high singles ranking of 115, has also been fined US$35,000.

An ATP investigation found that the 31-year-old had placed wagers on matches during a period from June 2003 until January 2006.

With World No. 1 Justine Henin coming into the tournament as the clear odds-on-favorite to win her fourth consecutive Grand Slam at Roland Garros, from May 25-June 8, the tournament may not be nearly as exciting as the suspenseful 2008 Aussie Open in which I predicted Henin would fall to World No. 5 Maria Sharapova before going on to predict that Sharapova would thoroughly trounce World No. 3 Ana Ivanovic in the women’s finals.
 

The French Open is taking three of the world's biggest bookmakers to court in a legal bid to ban betting firms from taking bets on Roland Garros. The French Tennis Federation filed lawsuits in Paris and Liege, Belgium today against Betfair, Bwin and Ladbrokes seeking an injunction to prevent the companies from accepting online bets for the French Open and requesting a daily fine for violations, according to a published report in the Associated Press.
 

THIS WEEK:

• Brisbane International WTA
  Brisbane, Australia
  January 4-10, 2009
  International
  Prize Money:$220,000
  Surface: Hardcourt/Outdoors

• ASB Classic WTA
  Auckland, New Zealand
  January 5-10, 2009
  International
  Prize Money:$220,000
  Surface:Hardcourt/Outdoors

• Adrian Garcia
• Agustin Calleri
• Albert Montanes

• Agnes Szavay
• Agnieszka Radwanska