Live Wimbledon Blog / Gary Boswell / 30 June 2008 / Leave a comment

Gary Boswell is the man in the hot seat on a day where Federer locks horns with former Wimbledon champion Lleyton Hewitt, Nadal faces the dangerous Youzhny and the Williams sisters both play on the "Graveyard of Champions". Oh, and Richard Gasquet plays some bloke called Murray...

21.32 75% of Betfair readers proved right! 24.5 million traded and one of the great Wimbledon comebacks of all time! That and one of the longest days I've spent at work in years! Wouldn't have missed it for the world though. Braveheart puts the spine back into British tennis and we'll look back at this and know that here is the first British tennis player in donkeys ages who has the mental toughness to stay alongisde in a match where he is second best and believe in himself enough to still be in there when the dominant player comes to his wobble. At 5-4 in the third, Gasquet was totally dominant but Murray stayed in there and from then on there was only one player who believed he could win. Those two brilliant rally points in the third set tiebreak did it for me. Sheer Murray genius. How exciting to do my first Betfair blog on such an historic day.

This is the Boz signing off. Thanks to all those who emailed in to make the day so enjoyable. See you again on Ladies final day. Got to go and get myself psyched up for a Venus-Serena showdown!!

Well done Andy 5-7 3-6 7-6 6-2 6-4.

Good night Betfairians.

21.00 Murray down to 1.28 after an early break in the fifth and over 20.5 million now traded! Gasquet is using the bad light call in order to try to give himself a breather but Braveheart is hitting 137mph serves now with the adrenalin and Murraymania coursing through his veins. Gasquet had more chance with his sticking his head down the bog tactic!

20.40 The turnaround of all turnarounds on a day of turnarounds! Murray now 1.67 as he blitzs
through the fourth set 6-2 and Gasquet has gone to hang his head down the bog in disgust. He looks all washed up and those who got the 75.0 on Murray will be wetting themselves for the next twenty minutes!

Safin has won in four sets. It's just you, me and the centre court at Wimbledon now for a fifth set classic totally infused with Murraymania!! 18 Million matched on the Betfair market. Only needs to go as long as the Ancic-Verdasco fifth set in order to break the Betfair box office record!!

20.23 16.5 million already matched on the Betfair market for this match and Murray down to 2.12 as he breaks in the fourth. A real classic boiling up now as Gasquet shows definite sign of the wilt!! The crowd are getting into Murraymania aswell now. It was quiet really in the first two sets but they are infected with belief that he can do it now. Anybody think Tim Henman was playing!! I wonder if we'll break the Betfair trading record by the end of the fifth set!!?? We could do with those four BACK ANDY Betfair guys in the crowd now but I've noticed several crowd members punching into their blackberrys. I'll bet a fair bit of the trading is taking place on set!!

20.15 Blimey O Reilly, the inplay patriots are hollering now!! A brilliant tie-break victory by Murray - 7-3 - in which the eighth and tenth points were just incredible gets by Murray and it's two sets to one and there are signs that Murray has got into Gasquet's head. It's the one chink in the Frenchman's armour and you might not back against Murray now! 75.0 matched to £22 when he was 4-5 down in that set and £1600 plus at 50.0 but he's back to 3.25 now and suddenly looking like a possible in a game in which he had up to now always looked second best! Braveheart is on the march and The Boz could be in for a long night!!

Clement has beaten Cilic in straight sets but Safin lost the third set to Wawrinka and they look in for a long night on Court 1 aswell.

19.50 More moolah for the inplay patriots as Murray finally breaks Gasquet as he serves for the match!! Would you adam and eve it! Murray back to 7.6. Could he possibly rescue the set and keep the dream alive!!??

19.46 Murray out to 50.0 as the Frenchman breaks!!! The end is nigh

19.31 Amazing hold by Murray in the fifth game of the third. Saved four break points and refused to pack in. Dragged out the faithful drop shot when he needed it and let the patriotic inplay traders back him at 11 before finally holding. Back to 7.2 again now at 3-2 up in the third.
But can he break the Frenchman on his serve?

Clement 2 sets to love up and 2-0 in the third and Safin 2-2 against Wawrinka in the third and 2 sets up.

19.20 Murray out to 6.8 now at 2-2 in the third. Safin two sets up and Clement-Cilic heading to a second set tie-break. You could argue that Murray is becoming a value price again if you think he can finally bust that Gasquet serve. Personally, I can't see it!

19.06 Not going down without a fight! An excellent ninth game of the second set for Murray but ultimately no way past the Gasquet serve again. So two sets down and out to 6.2 which you might think is still a bit short considering!! Absolutely no sign of the Gasquet serve getting threatened and I wouldn't be surprised to see a few shrewdies hoovering up the 1.18 still available on the Frenchman. Where there's hope there is always a British punter putting down his cash!!

Safin 6-4 4-2 up against Wawrinka and the Russian marches on. Arnaud Clement is 6-3, 4-4 against Cilic in what is shaping up to be a tight one.

18.40 email us at sw19betfairblogger@hotmail.co.uk if you think Murray can come back from here.Suddenly down 3-0 in the second set and out to 5.3 on the exchange.

18.27 The Pacman is proved correct and Gasquet takes the first set 7-5 after a brilliant twelfth game in which Murray played superb defensive tennis all around the court. Saved four set points but ultimately succumbed to the Frenchman's power. Murray is pumped up though and there is a chance this will become a classic. Gasquet's serve not under threat yet though so Murray must find a way past that. The Boz has hedged out of his 1.9 lay on Murray to take a profit either way. The Scotsman is now 4.5 as Gasquet starts to power through the second set and I'm happy to have covered my two losses in the women's with shrewd in play betting. Many thanks to the pacman for advising which way to go in this one! Gonna put my feet up now and become a patriot

Safin 4-4 versus Stan Wawrinka in the first set and no sign of a Tipsarevic five setter so I'm figuring Scheuttler must have won that already.Yep, can confirm that he won a fourth set tiebreaker and that Clement has taken the first set against Cilic 6-3.

17.50 Already a big swing in the odds as the Betfair public sees what the Pacman means. Gasquet has only held serve to lead 3-2 but he's down to favourite now at 1.93 whilst Murray is out to 2.04. Good price the Scotsman for our 75% patriots!!

17.45 Murray already out to 1.93 as Gasquet easily holds his first two serves.

17.31 Baghdatis out so apologies to those who took my previous assertion that he was through literally. He lost the final set 8-6 to Lopez and is another big swing on a day of turnarounds. Must have thought he was through at two sets to one. So did I!
Nadal on the verge of straight sets win against Youzhny but the Tipsarevic-Scheuttler has swung round again and Rainer now 2 sets to 1 and down to 1.49 on the exchange.Peer in need of a massive turnaround as she has lost five straight games and is 5-1 down and on the verge of exit. Big egg on my face for the second time today. Two beat the book outsiders that let me down. Must remember to stick to inplay trading and playing the outright portfolios in future!! Doing well on the latter as my big six lays are now five down following Kuznetsova's exit. Just one left in the last eight. Trouble is, that is Serena!! Three more chances to get her beat but increasingly looking like I'll be turning to Venus to do it in the final!

Nadal about to close out so it's all eyes now on Mister Murray. Take your seats Ladies and Gentlemen for a bit of pure Wimbledon theatre!!

17.17 Game set and match Radwanska so another big result for the inplay traders who took 22.0 and a bit of egg on the Boz's face as I hedged out of a 1.1 lay that I could have stuck with!!
Peer has squandered her second set break aswell.2-1 Dementieva and deuce on the Peer serve there now. Not really been my day so far so time for Murray to ride to the rescue. Are you ready British tennis lovers and 75% of the Betfair reading public who are backing our boy to win.
2.32 on Gasquet still though if you favour value over patriotism!!

17.01 Engrossing game on centre as Radwanska comes back from 4-1 in the final set where she was matched at 22.0 to square at 4-4. The Boz is smiling cos he laid Kuznetsova at 1.1. She is a known wobbler. She has just gone 5-4 as I write but the Boz has hedged out no problem at 1.55. I expect the Russian to go on and win now as the forehand remains a piledriver. The Pole has a clever forehand too mind and it's a reet good game that is keeping Murraymania at bay! The Scotsman due on centre court next.

Seems I was a bit previous calling Baghdatis the winner as he lost the fourth set tie break with Lopez and is 4-3 up in the final set showdown.Nadal is cruising at 6-3 6-3 against Youzhny and Tipsarevic is back to one set all against Scheuttler.

Seems I was a bit previous calling Kuznetsova home too as she has just put in a wobbler again and is 5-5 in the final set with Radwanska. Fairly clear to me that neither of these will beat Serena which maybe puts the younger Williams sister into the final!!

Looks like I might need the dosh scooped in the Radwanska game as Peer lost the first set 6-2 against Dementieva but has broken and leads 1-0 in the second. C'mon Shahar!!!! She's my kind of woman aswell and gets into my all time good looking brigade. Portuguese Pirate can't understand why I don't rate Anna Kournakova. Not got much time for Maria Sharapova either in the beauty stakes. Fleshless blonds never done much for me. Maybe because I'm one myself!!

16.28 Ian just emailed again to remind me that Peer-Demientieva has started on court 11. Demientieva took first game but I rate the Israeli a great bet at 3.6 as she has a recent head to head win, is the better grass court player and is much closer to the Russian than the 24 to 5 seeding suggests.
He also says Ancic can never beat Federer again with which I concur!!

Nadal one set up against Youzhny. Tipsarevic fighting back to 4-1 second set against Scheuttler. Baghdatis through and Kuznetsova blew Radwanska away to win the second set 6-1 and it's all set up at 2-1 Kuznetsova for a tense final setter on centre.

16.10 Mario Ancic through 13-11 final set.He now faces Federer to see if he can be the first man to beat the champ twice on grass! Kuznetsova up 4-0 second set so more price fluctuations as the number four seed plummets back from the 3.5 she reached after the first set back to 1.8 favourite to win the match.

Meanwhile the wind up toward Murraymania begins. My straw poll has come conclusively down in favour of the Scotsman who still stands at a skinny 1.76 in the Betfair markets. My editor Jamie 'The Pacman' Pacheco will not have the Frenchman getting beaten and considers Murray yet to prove himself capable of handling a serve like the Frenchman has. My natural leaning towards the longer price in a 50-50 game has me voting for the Frenchman too but we Betfair writers do not represent the patriotic readership who are 75% in favour of a Murray win. Three sets to one says Mike in Croydon. Coming this way soon!

15.56 Rainer Scheuttler priced at 2.3 despite taking the first set against Tipsarevic. Anyone explain that to me? Nadal 3-1 up first set against Youznhy but a scare as the Spaniard calls for the trainer to attend his knee. Ancic and Verdasco still at it on serve at 11-10. Any odds on it breaking the Wimbledon record for longest set ever? Congrats to Ballboy who correctly emailed in that it was Ancic himself who holds the honour of being the last man to beat Federer at Wimbledon. This goes on any longer, he can say goodbye to doing that again!

Agnieska Radwanska took the first set against Kuznetsova and the Russian top remaining seed drifted to 3.4 but has broken first game of the second set and is back in to 2.1. A possible classic on the way there. Baghdatis 2 sets to 1 up against Lopez and seemingly on his way to the quarters and maybe Ancic also going to join him as the Croat has just broken and serves again for the match at 12-11. He's served for it before in this set though! Not over yet!!

15.38 Verdasco-Ancic a real classic. 8-8 now final set and Verdasco just drifted to 3.95 when 30-40 on his serve but back to 2.34 when it goes deuce. A real trading opportunity if you reckon you know which way it will go. It's just gone 9-8 Verdasco with serve and he's now 1.8 after being 3.95 when I started writing this entry!

15.12 Vaidisova gets an incredible run of netcords to stifle the wobbles and land a right punt for those that took the 7.2 in play. She got a bit pink in the face in the process but in answer to the Portugese Pirate who wants to know who I rate as the best looking female tennis player, I have just enjoyed the young Czech who sits well in that department I think. Not that that is why I watch women's tennis of course!! PP rates Steffi Graf as having the best legs ever, Ana Ivanovic as the prettiest, Myskina as having a bum that didn't look big in anything and Kournikova as the all round stunner of all time. Anyone agree with him? My preferences are distinctly idiosyncratic as I rate Marion Bartoli the most fanciable on the current tour. You see perhaps why I wasn't asked to judge Miss World!

Ian has mailed in again to ask who was the last player to beat Federer at Wimbledon? He could play him again next round after a straight sets win over Hewitt! Email sw19betfairblogger@hotmail.co.uk if you know the answer to that.

An email just come in from James in the Czech Republic. He is a Vaidisova fan in all departments so Mr Stepanek perhaps better watch out! Vaidisova plays Zheng next round which could be a real firecracker.

And the winner of that plays Serena (who cruised to 6-3 6-3 against Mattek) or the winner of the Radwanska/Kuznetsova game just started on centre. Tough to call that one but I know there are a few fans of the young Pole out there. I mean to win the Championship of course although maybe she also scores highly in the Portugese Pirate's glamour parade.

Alla Kudryavtseva bit the dust. Back to 4-4 in the second set but blitzed from there. Petrova also through to the last eight. Ancic 7-6 up in the final set against Verdasco and Baghdatis-Lopez locked at one set all.

Just need Peer-Dementieva to get underway now to get my betting bank restored in time for the start of Murraymania!!

14.55 Just watched Vaidisova move to 4-1 and seemingly cruising but there may be more swings yet to come in this as the Czech just played two schoolgirl errors - one misjudged leave and one awful drop shot she should have smashed. There is high tension on court 1 and with Chakvetadze and Vaidisova both notorious emotional volcanoes, I'm off to watch the lava pour out in preparation for the Murraymania I intend to stoke up later!! Chakvetadze just won the sixth game for 4-2 and just one break. Worth a tickle on her now at 6.0 perhaps?

14.38 Vaidisova completely swung it round now and down to 1.15 as she takes a 3-0 lead in the decider. Chakvetadze out to 6.8. Vaidisova matched at 7.2 for £300 odd quid so well done to whoever backed that. Vaidisova has a 2-0 head to head over Chakvetadze and was pre-game fav at 1.79 so not a surprise at all and illustration again of the value to be got in play for those who keep the faith. No sign of a turn round against Serena,Petrova or the Fed though. All crusiing to victory.

Time for the second Boz quiz question: What was the married surname under which Evonne Goolagong won the Wimbledon ladies Title?? Email your answer to: sw19betfairblogger@hotmail.co.uk

14.23 The Fed completely in control now at 5-2 in the second set. I just watched a bit of Serena to see if I could find any chinks in her impressive armour but sad to say for you Serena layers that she looks majestic and powered past a decent Mattek 6-3 first set. Petrova also in total control against Kudryavtseva. 6-1 first set so no further progress for Sharapova's conqueror perchance? Titanic stuff in the Vaidisova-Chakvetadze game as the Czech leads 3-0 in the second set tie break and her price has just plummetted from 5.1 to 2.28. Hope you got some of that 3.95 I flagged up at the last blog post!

Ancic took Verdasco to the forecast fifth set but the pendulum has swung again and Verdasco led 4-2 but has just been broken so back to 4-4 and a terrific finale in prospect.

13.55 'As for Tanasuarn, she is an example of how the seedings and world rankings often provide gaps for us gamblers to exploit' says Ian via email. Thanks for that Ian who I know is a shrewd judge of men's tennis. He rates Tipsarevic as a dark horse for this Wimbledon and wants to know why he wasn't quoted on the Betfair Quarter-finals market at the initial stages.
Good question Ian. I watched the win against Roddick which would put the Serb easily in the top eight on my rankings.

Meanwhile the Fed is locked in a right old first set tussle with Hewitt but has just closed it out 9-7 in the tie-break.Hewitt now 18.5 to stage his miraculous comeback!

Ancic took the third set against Verdasco. That looks a possible five setter now. Thick and fast in the women's as Serena has raced to a 3-1 lead over Bethanie Mattek whilst Chakvetadze took the first set off Vaidisova and is now 3-2 in the second and Petrova took the first two games against Kudryavtseva just started on court 3.

13.35 WOWEE! If ever I wondered why I follow women's tennis, I just got my reminder in that 20 minutes. Alisa Kleybanova shakes a bucket load of sweat out of her hair as she powers back from 5-1 down second set against Venus to have a break point for 5-5. Venus however shows her championship mentality and in a brutal last game in which Kleybanova saved four match points, Venus finally closes out for 6-3 6-4. Amazing stuff.

Meanwhile, Agnes breaks my heart on court 3 by losing five games in a row against the talented Chinese world number 133. 4-1 up in the second, Agnes allows our back to Lay bet by comng back in to 2.4 but is finally dumped out 6-3 6-4 and this here Chinese girl has got to be watched. That's two massive scalps in a row. Jie Zheng down to 27.0 in the outrights.

Another massive shock though as the women's number 2 seed is also now out. Jelena Jankovic comprehensively outplayed by Tamarine Tanasugarn to ensure two unseeded players in the quarter finals!! The shocks continue.

In the men's, Hewitt-Federer is heading for first set tie-break, Verdasco leads Ancic two sets to love whilst in the recently started women's game, Anna Chakvetadze holds a 5-4 lead over Nicole Vaidisova. Bit of a surprise that and the Czech's price is out to 3.95.

13.15 Apologies to those who follow the men's game. Hadn't noticed that Verdasco-Ancic was under way! 6-3 to Verdasco first set and now a break for 4-2 in the second. Could be bye-bye to mario!! The Fed has also just come onto centre court in his cardy for his billed epic against the only other Wimbledon champion left in the draw. 11-0 to the Fed though in the head to head!! Can't say I see a classic in store. I think Hewitt will do well to win a set!

13.06 YIPPEE!! Agnes has bust back in the second set to lead 3-1 and those who took the 4.4 on her are now getting excited!! Well done John of Barking who emailed in to say he agrees with me that Szavay is a false price today.

Meanwhile, Venus canters into the quarters. She is 6-3 4-1 against Kleybanova and the boys have already posted 1.01. Looks like she was worth taking at 1.15 this morning as one of those bankers. I couldn't do it though because of the graveyard curse!

Surreal stuff on court 18 as Tanasugarn leads 6-3 2-1 with a break in the second and play has just resumed after both girls called on the trainer. Tanasugarn had the physio walking on her spine whilst she was flat out whilst a miserable Jankovic - who has drifted out to 3.7 - had her dodgy knee massaged. A serious shock on the cards on court 18....

12.50 Looks like the Boz might be on the wrong early shock! Ji Zheng broke Agnes in the eighth game and closed out the first set 6-3 so another shock for the young Chinese doubles player is now very much on the cards. Szavay has drifted out to 4.4. Great value of course but a long way back now for the young Hungarian. Jankovic is out to 2.4 as she blows the first set.
Also 6-3. Is the number two seed about to join the 1 & 3 seeds on the shock exit scrap heap??

Meanwhile Venus canters to a 6-3 first set advantage over Alisa Kleybanova. What did I say about the Williams sisters breaking the graveyard curse today? Answer:Nothing!! Those two women have the title in their grasp now if you ask me!!

12.40 First service break of the day goes to Tamarine Tanasugarn who leads Jankovic 4-2 and has plummeted in to 2.4 from an opening 4.3. Jankovic is out to 1.65 and had similar troubles last match against Wozniacki. Can the number two seed save herself again?

12.35 Agnes' price drifted out to 2.64 during the sixth game against Zheng so there is some real chance to take inplay value. Game is still finely balanced at 3-3 and on serve but the obvious view of the people is that Zheng is the fav. The Boz says different!

Both Venus and Jankovic games also still on serve - both at 3-2

12.15 Venus holds serve and Kleybanova drifts out again but looks ok on her own serve. Zheng-Szavay is underway on court 3 and Zheng holds her opening service game. Odds not changed much on that. The Boz's tip is still a biggish outsider at 2.4.

Number Two seed Jelena Jankovic is underway against Tanasugarn. Tricky one this for the number two seed as her knee must now be a worry and the Thai world number 60 comes in full of confidence after her performance at the Ordina. I'll be watching this closely.

Time also for the first Boz quiz question:
Which woman player in the last sixteen is rumoured to have a surprise underarm serve weapon that she has used occasionally on the tour? Email your answers to; sw19betfairblogger@hotmail.co.uk

12.01 Play is under way and Venus has lost the first point of the day! Could that be an omen for what's to come? 15-love to Alisa Kleybanova who drops to 6.2 on the exchange.

1.45 Welcome to Day 1 of THE BOZ blogging live at Wimbledon for them delightful boys at Betfair. They couldn't have given me a better day to start on. What with Murraymania in full flow and the chance of a Brit in the quarter-final if he gets past Gasquet today. 1.73 for Andy and 2.28 the temperamental Frenchman. Can he do it? It's coming later so email me your thoughts at sw19betfairblogger@hotmail.co.uk.

It'll be wonderful to hear from you and I'll be running a straw poll on what we think.
Pile in on the patriotism or do the usual British thing and take the value available on the opposition?!

Those of you that know me will understand that I'll have a very keen eye on the eight women's singles games being played today. Some real corkers in prospect there with my bet of the day getting underway in just a few minutes on court 11. I'm very sweet on the number 15 seed Agnes Szavay who is trading at around 2.42 as an outsider against the world number 133 Ji Zheng who is a remarkable 1.69 favourite courtesy of her amazing victory against Ivanovic last round. She was impressive and her groundstrokes showed that grass doubles ability that Ivanovic had no answer to but I think Szavay will come in wised up and looks a value call to me.
I also like the Israeli girl Shahar Peer who plays Elena Dementieva at around 1.30pm. Peer is a whopping 3.4 against the number five seed who is as short as 1.4. The Russian doesn't like grass however and we saw last round when she took out Safina, that Peer is capable of taking advantage.

The whole women's draw could be irrelevant though because of the form the Williams sisters are showing. They both play opponents they should beat today but they have both been scheduled on court 2 - that famous graveyard of champions! Incredibly, as soon as they finish their singles games (could be quite early!), they come back on court two as the number 11 doubles seeds. Have you ever seen the Williamses playing doubles? It's a real treat and I'll be watching keenly for clues as to which sister is going to be predominant at Wimbledon this year. It's always one or t'other. Coming in to the tournament, I was sure it was Venus but I'm less confident after I watched the way Serena dispatched Kanepi and Mauresmo. The Rhino has that unbeatable look in her eye again!

Which one for you? Serena or Venus? Email me at sw19betfairblogger@hotmail.co.uk and I'll take a second straw poll.

Third one is the obvious one. Federer or Nadal? Both in action today and also both surefire winners although the Federer-Hewitt game will be good to watch. Again, coming in to the tournament I was very keen on Federer to atone for his Paris humiliation back on his home surface. He looked a good price pre-tournament as everybody talked up Rafa. Then I watched the Spaniard against Kiefer on Saturday and I have to say that might have been the best court coverage I've ever seen at Wimbledon. Since the days of Bjorn Borg anyway. This guy really wants it and seeing as he came so close last year, I'm backing away now from the intended big lay I was planning on Rafa. What do you think? Rafa or Foger Rederer (as he is affectionately known to friends). Email me on that one too.

That's three votes you've got: 1. Gasquet or Murray
2. Serena or Venus
3. Rafa or the Fed

Ten points to the emailer who gets all three right!

Tags: Andy Murray, Wimbledon betting, Wimbledon Centre Court