Wimbledon Men's Final Betting: Rafael Nadal v Tomas Berdych

Wimbledon Betting / Ben Caudell / 03 July 2010 / Leave a Comment

Czech mate? This forehand could leave Tomas Berdych wishing he hadn't made the final.

"Nadal looked to be back to his formidable best when he sent Andy Murray packing from the All England Tennis Club on Friday. Murray found it hard to contain the Spanish Matador’s sublime ground strokes and passing shots that had ‘winner’ written all over them every time Nadal was given an opening."

Rafael Nadal may not be the most popular player around SW19 after demolishing local favourite Andy Murray but we should appreciate what a special talent he is and bet accordingly ahead of his match against Tomas Berdych, says Ben Caudell.

Tomas Berdych (CZE) v Rafael Nadal (ESP)

Red Hot favourite Rafael Nadal is [1.37] in the match odds to regain his Wimbledon Crown on Sunday against a man who has taken this tournament by storm.

Tomas Berdych, who has already dispatched of six time champion Roger Federer and the number 3 seed Novak Djokovic from the tournament, is currently priced at a tasty [3.6] to win his first Grand Slam title and is undoubtedly playing the best tennis of his career. Having already reached the semi-final in Rolland Garros two weeks prior to this event (as well as putting together a string of good performances on the American hard courts during March and April) there is little doubting the Czech's confidence, ability and mental strength. The latter in particular has seriously been questioned over the years.

Nadal looked to be back to his formidable best when he sent Andy Murray packing from the All England Tennis Club on Friday. Murray found it hard to contain the Spanish Matador's sublime ground strokes and passing shots that had 'winner' written all over them every time Nadal was given an opening. If the Mallorca native re-produces the same kind of form in the final, it will no doubt be his name engraved on the trophy for the second time in his illustrious career.

The stats are definitely in favour of Nadal in this match. He is 13-0 at Wimbledon, and this is the fourth time in as many years he has reached the final at the championships ,with one title win to his name (2008).

Astonishingly he has lost only one match since April, his record in all matches stands at 30-1, that loss coming against fellow compatriot Feliciano Lopez at Queens, soon after winning his fifth French Open title at Rolland Garros. Nadal also has a 7-3 head-to-head series lead over Berdych and has won the last six, including a quarter final match at the 2007 Wimbledon Championships that hewon in straight sets - 7-6 6-4 6-2.

Nadal has been more vulnerable against big flat hitters in the past, players like Juan Martin Del Potro, Robin Soderling, and Jo Wilfried Tsonga. Berdych will pose problems if he is able to hit through the ball and to Nadal's weaker backhand side. But he will also need to serve as well as he has ever done, gaining cheap points from unreturnable serves.

The Czech No.1 will have to shorten the points; he doesn't want to get into long rallies from the back of the court because he is definitely not one of the he most agile players on the circuit. I can see this match going to four sets with a tie break being played in one of those.

Nadal will win this match and regain the title he won in 2008 but it will certainly be a lot tougher than his French Open final win against Robin Soderling.

Selection:

Back Nadal 3-1 @ 3.7 (best bet)
Back Tie Break Played @[ 1.7]
Back Over 39.5 Games @ [1.9]