The world's top tennis players, Ashleigh Barty (#1) and Naomi Osaka (#2), return to action at the Western & Southern Open after skipping the Montreal tournament. Both look to bounce back from disappointing Olympic performances, where Barty exited in round one and Osaka in round three.

Osaka, who lit the Olympic flame in Tokyo, has had limited court time recently. She withdrew from the French Open, skipped Wimbledon, and appeared to struggle with form at the Olympics. Last year, she reached the Western & Southern Open finals but withdrew due to injury before the championship match.

Notable first-round matches include Olympic gold medal rematch between Belinda Bencic and Marketa Vondrousova (-115 each), with Vondrousova showing strong form after defeating top players like Osaka and Svitolina en route to Olympic silver.

Another key matchup features French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova (-140) against Daria Kasatkina (+110). While Krejcikova has had recent success, including Olympic doubles gold, Kasatkina brings more hard-court experience and recent solid performances.

Iga Swiatek, despite being among the oddsmakers' favorites, may be overvalued given her 4-4 record in hard-court tournaments since her 2020 French Open victory.

Key betting recommendations:

• Best Value: Ashleigh Barty (+550)
• Value Longshot: Victoria Azarenka (+1600)

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The tournament provides crucial preparation for the upcoming US Open, with ranking implications as Sabalenka could potentially overtake Osaka for the world #2 position based on results.

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