The return to London this year brings with it a sublime entry list for the women’s event. It wouldn’t be the least bit surprising if any of the top 25 in the betting won, given how competitive the WTA is these days.
Arguably providing a more entertaining brand of tennis to the men’s game, with long rallies and clever drop shots frequently on display, the coming fortnight is something to looks forward to for all tennis fans.
One controversy in the build-up has been Serena Williams’ seeding at 25 despite her ranking outside the top 32 in the world. Dominika Cibulkova was openly vocal in her dismay about this as it cost her the final seeding in the draw.
We say “let bygones be bygones” and, if Cibulkova ever wins seven Wimbledon titles like Serena, I’m sure they would most likely seed her upon her return as well.
Another talking point is that former world no.5 and Wimbledon finalist Genie Bouchard is on a winning streak of her own, with five wins in her last six matches – in the qualifiers. She’s looking to resurrect her career somewhat over the coming fortnight or else she could be facing the bleak possibility of a life making millions from modelling.
Poor old Genie, it really is a tough at the top.
She opens her account with a first round matchup against little known British wildcard Gabriella Taylor, who is 300/1 to win the tournament.
Trying to decipher how Serena will play over the next fortnight is difficult. She has drawn Arantxa Rus in the first round who should pose no problem. She will likely be tested in the third round though by fifth seed Elina Svitolina.
Further probable pairings for Serena include French Open semi-finalist Madison Keys in the fourth, and Caroline Wozniaki or Coco Vandeweghe in the quarters. This is no easy draw for the most dominant female player of all time. We have her at 6/1 to win the tournament and 2/1 to win her quarter.
Tournament Bets:
Outright Winner: Coco Vandeweghe – 25/1
Our tip of the tournament comes from the Williams quarter in the form of Coco Vandeweghe.
Although she would prefer to be in better form coming into Wimbledon, she produced flashes of excellence two weeks ago at Hertogenbosch, where she narrowly lost in a third set tie breaker to Aleksandra Krunic. That was all we needed to see, as Coco is a formidable force on grass, having twice made the quarter finals at the All England Club over the past three years and, further, both of her career WTA titles came in grass tournaments.
xxx on day eight of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on July 11, 2017 in London, England.
The powerfully built American possesses a monstrous serve, ideal for the surface, and her highly competitive nature is something we like to see when the going gets tough.
We have her at 25/1 for the outright and 6/1 to win her quarter.
Dark horse for the tournament:
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova – 100/1 to win outright
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova – 25/1 to win her quarter
She had no form whatsoever before winning Strasbourg in late May and since then has looked decent, even if some results haven’t gone her way.
She narrowly lost in three sets to one of Wimbledon’s pre-tournaments favourites, Karolina Pliskova, in Eastbourne last week and even though Pavlyuchenkova has openly admitted to not being a massive fan of grass in the past, her opinion changed when she reached the quarter final here back in 2016.
She has all the attributes for the surface and possesses a powerful game which can overcome even the most feared opponents. She has drawn a first round tie with Su-Wei Hsieh where she is 4/7 to win the match.
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*All odds correct at time of posting