Wimbledon Betting: Question marks over the favourites

Wimbledon Betting / Jamie "The Pacman" Pacheco / 17 June 2010 / Leave a Comment

Roddick has a good record at Wimbledon and has made two finals

"Rafael Nadal on the other hand was in imperious form in winning at Roland Garros for a fifth time but then surprisingly lost to Feliciano Lopez at Queens last week. Both players have taken the week off in preparation for Wimbledon."

Those who believe in these sort of things may think Roger Federer can get one over Rafael Nadal after his beloved Swiss national football team got one over Spain at the World Cup. But neither are in tip-top shape right now and the same goes for Murray and Roddick...

Backers of Roger Federer to win Wimbledon this year may feel that the omens are good for them after Switzerland's shock defeat of Spain in yesterday's World Cup action. The Swiss maestro has been backed at a high of [2.84] to be victorious on the manicured lawns of SW19 but is now trading at around [2.46] to defend the title he won by beating Andy Roddick in last year's marathon five-setter. Like Rafael Nadal, his main rival to win the year's third Grand Slam (who trades at [3.85]), the Fed Express is a big football fan and will have taken great delight at watching in-running [28.0] shots Switzerland beat Spain, the pre-tournament favourites, by 1-0.

Federer may be the defending champ but tennis punters will remember that Nadal missed Wimbledon last year through injury and beat the record-breaking Grand Slam winner the last time they met on grass, back in the 2008 final. It's also worth remembering that Federer's form has been patchy ever since winning the Australian Open with shock defeats to the likes of Ernest Gulbis (Rome) and Albert Montanes (Estoril) before a disappointing quarter-final exit to Robin Soderling at the French Open. And it's not just on clay that Federer hasn't been at his very best: he surprisingly lost to Lleyton Hewitt in the final of Halle last week, played on grass...

Rafael Nadal on the other hand was in imperious form in winning at Roland Garros for a fifth time but then surprisingly lost to Feliciano Lopez at Queens last week. Both players have taken the week off in preparation for Wimbledon.

A couple of question marks surround the two favourites then but they're not alone there. Andy Murray's troubles have been well-documented and the Betfair market has reacted accordingly, pushing him out to [11.0] from odds of [5.6] just a few weeks ago. Andy Roddick is another player with an impressive record in south west London (despite never winning Wimbledon) but he too suffered an early exit at Queens, at the hands of Dudi Sela. A-Rod is an [18.5] chance to win this year.

The one player who has seen the money come in for him is the aforementioned Hewitt. The resilient Aussie is a true grass court specialist and his win over Federer in Halle is proof he's back to his best after injury problems. Backed at [500.0] just a few weeks back, he's now into just [44.0] to repeat his 2002 triumph.