Sports Betting Articles
Some Other Ways to Make Money at This Year's Wimbledon
By Philip Oliver
Nadal and Serena Williams are my expected winners, so it makes sense to follow them in Betfair's winning double market (the combination of winners). They are well-fancied in their outright winner markets (but not favourites) and current odds of 10 (9/1) represent good value.
Their prospective quarter finals against Richard Gasquet and Svetlana Kuznetsova look like good draws and any payer in the last four has a good chance of going all the way. Nadal seems destined to face a third straight final with Roger Federer, who might well have to overcome Novak Djokovic - the other main contender for the title - in the semis.
Both the Williams sisters will be tough to beat, which partly explains the favouritism of there not being a new winner in the ladies' tournament. The top two seeds (Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic) would be first time winners, as would fourth seed Kuznetzova, but the presence of Venus and Serena, along with Maria Sharapova, means a repeat winner (1.75 or 8/11) has been backed more than a new one (2 - evens).
The most interesting men's betting market is perhaps most aces. This comes down to a choice between the players expected to reach the final and the big servers who will fall along the way. Federer (5 or 4/1), with his use of angles, slice and ability to ace on the second serve is unsurprisingly more popular than Nadal, available at 34 (33/1).
Ivo Karlovic, the tallest ever Wimbledon player at 6ft 10 is 2.36 (11/8) favourite, and with good reason. He might not make it past third or found round, being in the same quarter as the well-fancied Marcos Baghdatis and David Nalbandian, but a blitz early on might still be enough. He hit 35 in three sets against Nadal at Queen's and struck a Wimbledon record 51 in a first round defeat in 2005. Andy Roddick, trading at 4.2 (16/5) second favourite in this market, might provide the right balance between serious challenger and big server, having been runner-up twice at SW19.
There are plenty of other Wimbledon betting opportunities with Betfair, including in-play markets that update as the match develops. Final set comebacks are a common event, so punters should look for value when their original selection is behind in a match.
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