WIMBLEDON IS HERE: Most tennis enthusiasts will agree: the pinnacle of the sport is the two summertime weeks at the All England Club, where we get to watch the most famous grass courts in the game gradually fade from a rich green to a weathered brown as the world’s best players vie to make history. The 2016 edition of The Championships at Wimbledon will begin in earnest on Monday, and the outright markets at BETDAQ have really started to pick up over the past couple of days. Here’s a quick rundown of what to expect in both the men’s and women’s draws, as well as a few recommendations:
WOMEN’S DRAW
Women’s tennis has effectively been Serena vs. Everyone Else for quite some time now, but that may be changing. It’s been nearly a calendar year since Serena’s last Grand Slam victory, and while that may not be much of a “slump” for mere mortals, it could signify the onset of a late-career fade for the otherworldly Ms. Williams. After all, it’s not like tennis is all that keeps her preoccupied these days– between photo shoots, documentaries (coming soon, apparently), and hanging with Beyonce, Serena may be spreading herself a little thin. She’s still the betting favorite (2.6), but her air of invincibility has been compromised.
So… who can we expect to step up and give her a real challenge? Garbine Muguruza was up to the task at the French and sits right behind Serena at the top of BETDAQ’s win market (5.6), while young contenders like Madison Keys (10.5) and Belinda Bencic (86.0) could really make some noise. Here are a couple more who may be worth a look:
Recommendations to BACK (odds in parenthesis)
Coco Vandeweghe (40.0)- Vandeweghe made a bit of a splash at Wimbledon last year, pulling off a couple of upsets and giving the favored Maria Sharapova all she could handle in the quarterfinals. Now seeded 27th, she’s looking for bigger and better things and based on her favorable draw I think she has an excellent chance of reaching the semis (and beyond?) for the first time in her Wimbledon career. She’s become a fan favorite with her big serve and aggressive playing style, and grass is undoubtedly her best surface. At the Aegon Classic last week she was sharp, upsetting top seed Agnieska Radwanska and advancing to the semifinal, where she put up a good fight before eventually losing to Barbora Strycova in three sets. I don’t know if she’s quite ready to beat the likes of Serena on Centre Court, but her price will shorten greatly before all is said and done. Now’s the time to get aboard.
Eugenie Bouchard (110.0)- Despite reaching the Final just two years ago Bouchard is nothing but an afterthought now, as a loss of confidence and a freak locker-room injury combined to make her 2015 season one to forget. She’s beginning to show signs of emerging from the haze, though, reaching the final of two tournaments this year and winning two matches at the Aegon International last week before running into the top seed. Grass is her best surface and Wimbledon is her favorite tournament, so her competitive juices will certainly be flowing, and based on her recent interviews she seems to be in the right place mentally. It’s a longshot, sure, and she could lose early, but at a price like 110.0 Bouchard is well worth the risk.
MEN’S DRAW
No matter what anyone tells you, there is no “Big Four” in men’s tennis– there’s a Big One, and his name is Novak Djokovic. After winning the French Open, the tournament that had long tormented him, the calendar-year Grand Slam is now clearly in the Djoker’s sights, and he’s the odds-on favorite (1.86) to complete the third leg of the Slam at a place that has been very good to him over the years. In case you’ve forgotten just how good the All England Club has been to Mr. Djokovic, might I remind you of his Wimbledon record over the past five years: Champion (’11), Semifinalist (’12), Finalist (’13), Champion (’14), Champion (’15). He’s dominating the game in general, and dominating this tournament specifically.
That being said, there’s plenty of pressure to deal with and talented rivals who are surely itching to knock off the world’s best. Some of them have done so before on this very stage, so you never know, things could get quite interesting before the fortnight is through…
Recommendations to BACK (odds in parenthesis)
Andy Murray (4.4)- Believe me, I have no trouble backing the favorite. I was on Djokovic at the French, the Australian, and last year’s Wimbledon. He’s the favorite for a reason, and I don’t think his price is unreasonable. Still, though, I just have a nagging feeling that this won’t be as much of a “foregone conclusion” as everyone thinks. Pressure is part of it– Djokovic is only the second man in the last forty years to enter Wimbledon having won both the Australian and the French, and the weight of history should not be underestimated. It’s more than that, though– in rightfully glorifying the historic run that Djokovic is currently on, we tend to lose sight of other players who may be peaking at just the right moment, and one of those guys is Andy Murray. Murray, of course, pulled off the biggest win of his career on Centre Court back in 2013, vanquishing Djokovic to win his only Wimbledon title. He’s now reunited with the man who coached him during that period, Ivan Lendl, and the duo seem to have picked up right where they left off, as Murray was very impressive in winning the Aegon Championship last week and seems to be in the right frame of mind– not overly anxious or emotional, not putting too much pressure on himself, and not playing defensively. His draw is fairly favorable, though a potential 4th-round matchup against Nick Kyrgios could be tricky, and despite his dismal record against Djokovic over the past couple of years (just 2-13 in the last 15 meetings), he put up a good fight in the French Open final and is one of the only men in the sport to have racked up double-digit career victories over the Serb. Murray has emerged as the clear-cut second-best player in the world, and while anyone other than Djokovic winning the title would have to be considered an upset, I think the Scotsman is a good value at a price like 4.4.
