TENNIS BETTING: Live on BBC from 12.00: Strawberries, sunshine and British failure; it must be Wimbledon!! Andy Murray carries the flag but is in a worrying slump. Compare all Wimbledon Odds.
Mens
The grass tennis season heads to Wimbledon and so to rain affected games, Henman Hill (Murray Mound?) and the BBC’s fixation with congratulating the tournament.
Roger Federer is defending his title and is 6/4 with Coral to make it a remarkable 7 wins in 8 years to match Pete Sampras and William Renshaw’s all time records.
Federer’s closest challenge comes in the inevitable and intimidating form of Rafael Nadal. Nadal, whilst best known as a clay master, is still 9/4 with Blue Square to be victorious. Those 2 are the top 2 seeds and therefore cannot meet until the final; the last time they did was in 2008, which Rafa Nadal actually won (Nadal was injured for 2009). Rafa Nadal can really carry his form over this year and can make it all the way to the final.
Britain’s hopes rest on Andy Murray, who has managed to obtain 4th seed ahead of the British Grand Slam event. Murray is in some poor form of late and in the warm up at Queens was dumped out in the 3rd round by Mardy Fish and a slight knee injury. Murray rolls in at 8/1 3rd fav (Betfred) which is simply not a fair reflection of the current tennis scene and is probably skewed downwards by ‘patriotic’ bets.
Novak Djokovic is 20/1 (Skybet) 3rd seed, Andy Roddick 14/1 (Totesport) and Robin Soderling makes up the top 6 seeds (20/1, Sportingbet). Andy Roddick had a good clay season, reaching 2 high profile finals but his grass form has been well below par. Robin Soderling is a truly gifted tennis player and another to watch out for is Lleyton Hewitt at 40/1 with Totesport. Hewitt’s clay season petered out to the French Open where, to be fair, he lost to Nadal. In his grass debut at Halle, he stormed to the final and beat Federer. His draw is quite tough but he is well worth keeping an eye on.
Andy Murray’s stage of elimination Wimbledon 2010:
1st Round 14/1
2nd Round 14/1
3rd Round 10/1
Fourth Round 4/1
Quarter Final 5/1
Semi Final 5/2
Finalist 4/1
Winner 13/2
All Stan James
Womens
In the women’s event, the Williams sisters occupy the top 2 seeds, Serena coming out on top. This also reflects the betting where Serena is 9/4 fav at Victor Chandler and her sister, Venus, is 9/2 at Boylesports.
Maria Sharapova has enjoyed a timely return to form, winning a clay event and performing well on the hard court at Memphis. She began the grass court season by reaching the final at Birmingham and comes into Wimbledon with a 8/1 tag, courtesy of Ladbrokes. She will be really keen to impress at a Grand Slam and can go far at SW19.
French Open winner Schiavone is 5th seed and surprising 100/1 shot with Skybet. Admittedly she was completely outplayed at Eastbourne this week by 57th in the world but the French Open Champion deserves a little more respect than 100/1.
Another to watch is Justine Henin. Still climbing up the rankings after retirement, she last played at Wimbledon in 2007 where she reached the semi’s, in 2006 she was losing finalist. In 2010, she is 3rd fav at 15/2 with Stan James.
Finally, Na Li can shock a few players early on. It remains to be seen whether the 9th seed can reach the final but she will certainly be a very tough opponent and 45/1 with Paddy Power, is well worth watching.
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