Dementieva in among the underdogs at Indian Wells that are worth taking notice of.

Paddy Power have priced Elena Dementieva as the 4th favorite at the 2010 BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells.  Dementieva, along with several other peripheral threats at the Indian Wells Tennis Center, is one of several players with long odds that are worth taking a serious look at.

Here are the odds, many of which are best prices available, for all players on the women's side with odds between +1000 (10/1) and +3300 (30/1) with several sportsbooks in the outright winner's market at Indian Wells:
        
Elena Dementieva            +1000 (10/1; go to Paddy Power)        
Victoria Azarenka           +1000 (14/1; go to bet365)  
Caroline Wozniacki          +1600 (16/1; go to bet365) 
Svetlana Kuznetsova         +1600 (17/1; go to Paddy Power)  
         
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova    +2500 (25/1; go to Paddy Power) 
Vera Zvonareva              +2900 (29/1; go to Expekt.com)  
Yanina Wickmayer            +3300 (33/1; go to Paddy Power)

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova is quickly arriving on the WTA tour as a significant threat to titles.  However, Pavlyuchenkova does not appear to be ready to take down a tournament of this magnitude ($4.5M prize pool) as she has not really impressed on a big stage yet.  She could do some damage and she could knock out a top seed, however she is very unlikely to string together all the wins needed to take down this event.  Pavlyuchenkova's recent title at Monterrey will certainly turn some heads - and it should - but this is a player to watch for in the future as she is still only 18 years old (FYI: she's probably better than Melanie Oudin).

Vera Zvonareva, though not young on tour anymore is similar to Pavlyuchenkova in the sense that she could do damage in the draw but she will ultimately fall. That is what she has done in the past more often than not as she often does damage but then bows out title-less. 

Without a doubt many will quickly retort that Zvonareva is the defending champion this year as she won the singles titles for women last year at Indian Wells (and the doubles), however that singles title was the most prestigious title of her career and it is the only premier event she has ever won (she's 25 now).  If you back her consistently you're bankroll will just gradually drain with a very occasional injection when lightning strikes, an injection that won't pay for all the losing bets you placed on her over time.

Quarterfinalist?

That leaves the following players to ponder over:

Elena Dementieva            +1000 (10/1; go to Paddy Power)        
Victoria Azarenka           +1000 (14/1; go to bet365)  
Caroline Wozniacki          +1600 (16/1; go to bet365) 
Svetlana Kuznetsova         +1600 (17/1; go to Paddy Power)  
Yanina Wickmayer            +3300 (33/1; go to Paddy Power)

The best value in the women's draw is likely somewhere in this group and you would be smart to bet two or three here. 

What I recommend is taking 90% of your bet and dividing that up evenly on Dementieva and Azarenka. 

Dementieva already has two titles on tour this year from Sydney and Paris and she's no stranger to success at tournaments on the same level as Indian Wells, as Dementieva is the reiging champion of the WTA Toronto/Montreal event.

Azarenka has been going deep into a lot of draws lately although she has yet to pick up a title in 2010.  She made the Aussie quarters and was the player in Melbourne that came the closest to defeating eventual champion Serena Williams.  She, Azarenka, also made the finals in Dubai last month, she's only losing to quality opponents, and she is quite dangerous in this draw.  Without doubt, Azarenka at +1000 is a better bet than Justine Henin at +140 (7/5; Expekt.com) in terms of value.

With your final 10% you could pick either Wozniacki, Kuznetsova, or Wickmayer and my recommendation is Wickmayer.  Her odds are longer, she's been doing exceptionally well in the last half year (except for in her last two matches) and both Wozniacki and Kuznetsova have struggled a bit lately.  Kuznetsova's loss at the Aussie to Petrova wasn't so bad but the loss in Dubai to the 99th ranked player on tour should make you back off of this player for a bit.
Wozniacki hasn't started the year off too loudly either as she's fallen to Na Li twice and Shahar Peer once in limited events.  Due to those losses and in the absence of a strong recent result you can't be too excited about taking her to win Indian Wells.

Summary: 45% on Dementieva, 45% on Azarenka, and 10% on Wickmayer.

If you want to add more 'mmmmph' to Dementieva or Azarenka you could certainly drop Wickmayer if you wanted.

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