Wimbledon Betting / Barry Millns / 29 June 2009 / Leave a comment

Tennis commentator Barry Millns picks his likely finals match-ups from the men's and women's draws.

Wimbledon won't say how much they spent on constructing Centre Court's new retractable roof. Presumably it was a little more than all the money bet on the championships being a dry fortnight without any rain delays, but maybe not a lot more in view of the impending heat-wave.

Rain delays in the past have certainly played their part but for those who suffered major upsets in the first week, there was no chance to regroup in the locker rooms with their respective coaches before turning things around.

Juan Martin Del Potro may well do wonders at Wimbledon in the future but the towering young Argentinean was well beaten by former champion Lleyton Hewitt in the second round. The Australian rolled back the years with a performance of counter-punching brilliance reminiscent of his hey-day before he was crocked by a serious hip injury.

The way the former world No.1 opened up the top of the draw with that display underlined his potential threat. But having done it before, can Hewitt, currently trading at [9.2] to reach the final again, go on and do so?

To get there the 2002 champion must get through Radek Stepanek ([90.0]), then either Tomas Berdych ([17.0]) or Andy Roddick ([6.6]) before possibly facing Andy Murray ([1.63]) in the semi-finals. After a tricky start Britain's No.1 has certainly put down a marker for the second week with his dismissals of Ernests Gulbis and Victor Troicki.

I said when Murray arrived at Wimbledon this year he is now ready to become a major champion, because everything is in place, mentally and physically for him to do so. When you consider that Novak Djokovic ([6.4]) is the only player left in the men's draw who has a winning record against Murray (although he lost all of their last three encounters), there is a very strong chance that the latter will at least get a shot at the title on Sunday.

But if Murray does get there then Roger Federer ([1.36]) will surely be waiting for him, unless the Swiss gets ambushed by ace-machine Ivo Karlovic ([25.0]) in the quarter-finals. Having finally captured that elusive French Open title there is no doubt that Federer has played sublimely, for the most part, through the first week.

A slight loss on concentration did cause the great man to drop a set in his last match against Philipp Kohlschreiber, but aside from any sudden domestic distraction with wife Mirka expecting their first child very soon, it is hard to see Federer being diverted or distracted in pursuit of that record 15th grand slam title.

As to the women's draw, well I have seen nothing so far to alter my belief that come Saturday we will be watching another all-Williams final. Neither Venus ([1.96]) nor Serena ([1.83]) has dropped a set so far, overpowering all who have crossed their paths, as they tend to do at this time of year.

In stark contrast, former world No.1 Jelena Jankovic continued to underline her current lack of form and motivation with Saturday's loss to American qualifier Melanie Oudin ([60.0]), French Open champion Svetlana Kuzenetsova reminded everyone less than a month after her Roland Garros triumph, how inconsistent she can and probably always will be, losing poorly to Sabine Lisicki ([24.0]), while Maria Sharopova showed she is still some way short of her best just four tournaments into her return from shoulder surgery.

Whether the other former No.1s still in contention - Amelie Mauresmo ([15.5]) and Ana Ivanovic ([11.5]) - make it a second week to remember remains to be seen, as it does for the world's current top-ranked player Dinara Safina ([5.5]). She may still not have a grand slam title to her name but she achieved a record of sorts for never being scheduled on Centre Court in the first week despite being the top seed.

As far as I know, Safina doesn't do Twitter, but there are a growing number of players who are now giving us more insight into their thoughts and deeds throughout the fortnight, including Roddick and Murray. In his latest 'tweet' Roddick was dismayed to have seen USA overhauled by Brazil in the Confederations Cup Final, while Murray revealed that he received a telephone call of congratulation from Sean Connery after his latest win.

What price another in a week's time?