Wimbledon Betting / Ralph Ellis / 17 June 2008 / Leave a comment

Tiger Woods won the battle of wounded knee. And having watched him it's hard to find too much sympathy for Andy Murray as he winds himself up for the battle of battered thumb!

Britain's great white Wimbledon hope is due to be playing an exhibition match today to start proving he's ready for SW19 but don't count on that being the start of great heroics. He's among the five most fancied players but frankly even at [50.0] isn't worth backing simply because he's got no track record over five set matches.

There always seems to be a problem or an excuse and he could learn some lessons from the way Woods fought his way through the pain of 91 holes when every time he stood on the tee to drive the ball he knew the sharp, searing feeling of agony that was coming the moment he'd made contact. Okay, so the US Open was a Major and the World number one was kept going by the incredible atmosphere of the crowd and his own desire to collect his 14th top title. And when Murray pulled out of the Artois Championships last week he was stepping away from a minor event to safeguard his fitness for the one that mattered.

But there still is a question mark over Murray's courage for a battle, and it's a point raised by John McEnroe in this morning's papers. The BBC commentator who remains one of Wimbledon's most iconic figures is as brunt and brutal talking about the game as he was playing it. And he's questioned whether the Scot really has the same mental toughness as the likes of Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic when the going gets tough. "I've seen Andy and at times the way he deals with problems and pressure has hurt him. Instead of digging deep he has slipped. And while Andy seems stronger and fitter and has got over the cramping problems there's still more progress needed with his fitness. His serve has picked up but the easy solution is to get in even better shape. It's unbelievable how good a shape Nadal and Djokovic are in."

Nadal is the man who clearly has got the desire as he proved by going straight from the clay of Paris to the grass at Queen's and beating all comers. There was no quarter asked or given across the week of the tournament, and absolutely no temptation to have an easy day, get knocked out and fly home for some rest. The Spaniard, who brushed aside Roger Federer in France, is [3.85] to win Wimbledon and looks an outstanding bet.

As for Woods, well he's gone out to [3.45] to win the Open after following up his heroics at Torrey Pines by suggesting he now needs a long lay off. That's a market movement reflecting the fear that he may not even get to Royal Birkdale. Don't count on it. Woods will see only the chance of turning 14 majors into 15 and having proved he can play on one leg will be there to do it again. If you can get that price now then you certainly won't get it on July 17 when he's about to tee off and at the very worst can lay it back to lock in a profit.

Five things you didn't know about Andy Murray

1. He got good at tennis by trying to beat his elder brother Jamie and the first time he
managed it in an Under 12 event Jamie hit him so hard he lost a nail on his left hand

2. He decided to move to a tennis school in Barcelona after losing to Rafael Nadal and
discovering the young Spaniard was already practising with top pro Carlos Moya

3. He left school with no qualifications because he spent so much time playing tennis

4. He won the first Betfair Turbo Tennis event at the O2 Arena

5. His career prize money has just reached more than £1million

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