Match Previews / Ben Caudell / 22 June 2009 / Leave a comment

Ben Caudell is back and raring to go as Wimbledon kicks off. His selections may be pretty obscure today but you know he's going to pick some good un's...

Strawberries, cream, champagne and Pimms are back on the agenda at SW19. The lush green, green grass looks as pristine as ever and for the first time in the tournament's history we will witness the new retractable roof on centre court.

So, no more washouts and no Rafael Nadal, the defending champion, who sent shockwaves through the men's draw when he removed himself from contention due to ongoing knee troubles. The hole at the top of the men's draw left by Nadal will be filled by the fifth seed, Juan Martin Del Potro. Andy Murray, the British No.1 and third seed, had been drawn to meet Nadal in the semi-finals. He is now the highest ranked player in the top half of the draw and is second favourite to win the tournament @ [3.85]. You can back Federer/Murray Final @ [2.52].

I will once again be seeking out the best value bets of the day throughout the duration of the tournament for both the women's and men's singles events.

Today's Selections:

Yanina Wickmayer (BEL) v Elena Vesnina (RUS) - 20-year old Yanina Wickmayer has had a great start to the grass court season reaching the Final of the Ordina Open (losing to Tamarine Tanasugarn) the quarter final of the Birmingham International (Maria Sharapova) and the semi final of the Nottingham ITF (Stefanie Voegle).

The Belgian reached the final at last year's Birmingham International and has an 18-6 record on grass over the last twelve months. With 62% of service points won and 76% of service games held on grass within the last year, Wickmayer is looking in good shape to defeat Elena Vesnina, a player she has never faced before in her five years as a pro tennis player.

Vesnina, who prefers the slower clay court surface is ill-suited to the pace of the grass court. She has played only one match on grass this year, a loss to Kristina Barrios in straight sets in the Ordina Open. The fact that Vesnina has had so little practice on the green stuff, I can see this match being a straight set win for the Belgian.

Selection: Back Yanina Wickmayer @ [1.38] to win match
Back Wickmayer 2-0 @ [2.0]

Paul Capdeville (CHI) v Vincent Spadea (USA) - Neither of these players have much grass court pedigree, both are baseliners, Spadea favouring the American hard-courts and Capdeville the South American clay.

My reason for choosing to include this match n today's picks is the fact that though the odds are pretty evenly matched, Capdeville has significantly poorer statistics on the grass.

The 26 year-old Chilean will be playing his first ever Wimbledon Singles match of his career having lost in qualifying the previous four years, this will be Spadea's thirteenth career Wimbledon main draw event and reached the last 16 back in 2004. The American has also performed well over the years on the Newport Grass courts (USA) reaching the final back in 2005. With this in mind and the fact that Spadea has a 2-0 series head-to-head over the Chilean - one of those wins a two set victory on the Newport grass in 2007 - there should be little in the way to trouble the more experienced American veteran.

Selection: Back Vince Spadea @ [1.92]