After announcing that he’s expecting his second child, Andy Murray received more giant news this morning – when Paddy erected the daddy of all tributes to the British No.1.
The iconic Cerne Abbas Giant – recognised as a symbol of fertility – served up a tennis storm, in a stunt organised by our PR team.
Confused Dorset locals arose to the ballsy creation this morning which saw their famous chalk figure – usually armed with a giant club – instead holding a tennis racket and tossing a ball.
Dubbed ‘the rude giant’ thanks to his own set of balls, the Giant – which dates back to the 17th Century – attracts thousands of visitors each year.
Yet the chalk figure looked even more aroused than usual this morning as he enjoyed a toss to open up the start of the tournament.
The stunt marks what our traders are calling a ‘tennis betting bonanza’ over the next two weeks, with more than £650m expected to be staked across the bookmaking industry – smashing previous records.
Paddy Power said:
“We didn’t need Hawkeye to help us spot that the Cerne Abbas Giant was ‘excited’ about Andy Murray’s baby news, and what better way to mark the start of the tennis than to give him a racket and ball?
“It was an early start and it looked like there were a few worried locals, but it turned out to be morning glory. At least we stuck to the all-white policy with the tarpaulin and hopefully no one gets a hard-on over it, as it was all just a bit of fun.”
Our stunt, which was completed under the cover of darkness this morning, took a 6-strong team equipped with night vision goggles just over 3 hours to complete, and used a whopping 255 SQ M of tarpaulin and 250 tent pegs.
To celebrate the biggest week for British tennis, the bookie has also released a series of betting specials.
Our man on the ground this morning, said: “We had to sneak up to the landmark in the middle if the night, to try and avoid a cock-up.
“Thankfully, we weren’t shafted, even though one dog walker shouted some indecipherable abuse at us.
“We made a rapid exit afterwards, having woken up the entire village with our massive chopper. Oops.”
Wimbledon Betting Specials
5/6 Record temperature to be broken (Over 27c)
5/6 Over 30,000k strawberries and 11,500 litres of cream to be consumed
5/4 Any player to be asked to change their clothing
6/1 Andy Murray and Johanna Konta to both reach the final
10/1 Full day’s play to be washed out (excluding Centre Court)
20/1 Andy Murray to win and serve the most aces
40/1 Caterers to run out of Strawberries & Cream
66/1 No British player to make it through 1st Round
How much rain will there be?
5/4 Over 3.5 days rain
4/6 Under 3.5 days of rain
Come on Andy! For the latest Wimbledon betting, head over to PaddyPower.com