Wimbledon Betting: Nadal fitness doubts cause mayhem on Betfair market

Wimbledon Betting / Jamie "The Pacman" Pacheco / 09 June 2009 / Leave a Comment

Nadal's satatement this afternoon caused some serious price fluctuations on the Betfair market but we still don't know whether he'll be at SW19 this year....

"I will give 200% to be at 100% for the most important date in world tennis. I will not go out and play on any court, let alone Centre Court at Wimbledon, if I am not 100%,"

So said Rafael Nadal in a statement released on Tuesday lunchtime as the tennis world feared he was about to tell us that he was in fact going to miss the SW19 extravaganza due to his ongoing knee problems which may, or may not, have contributed to his demise at the hands of Robin Soderling in the fourth round of the French Open.

The Spaniard clearly likes talking in terms of percentages so it is perhaps fitting that as speculation grew throughout the day that the statement he was about to release would tell us that he was about to withdraw from the tournament altogether, there were some pretty crazy odds being traded on the Wimbledon winner market.

A few weeks back when all was rosy in the Nadal garden, the defending champion traded at just [2.5] to successfully defend his title. As Federer comprehensively beat Nadal's conqueror in the final of the French Open on Sunday afternoon and the extent of Nadal's injury was unknown, the world number one was trading at 6 for a repeat of Wimbledon glory. But as speculation grew this afternoon that his injury would keep him out of the tournament altogether, he drifted to odds of [18.0] with over £5,000 traded at [11.0].

Nadal is now back into odds of [5.3] as fans, punters and his rivals wait with baited breath for him to make a final decision about whether he's fit to play after all. Roger Federer is the clear favourite at [2.3] to win the Wimbledon crown he lost in such dramatic circumstances last year with Andy Murray next in the betting at [6.8].