Betfair Official Blog

WIMBLEDON - PREVIEW

What a feast of action is lined up at Wimbledon today with two men's singles quarter-finals and four fourth-round matches on offer plus the two women's singles quarter-finals.

Betfair punters are spoiled for choice. You'll be reaching for the red button on your TV handset quite a lot - if the rain stays away.

Four-time champion Roger Federer is back from his holiday - as Rafael Nadal describes the top seed's break thanks to his fourth-round walkover - and faces Juan Carlos Ferrero for a place in the semi-finals. There he will meet the winner of a smashing looking contest between Andy Roddick and young Frenchman Richard Gasquet. Roddick has won both his meetings with Gasquet and Federer leads Ferrero 8-3, having won all their last six meetings, including their only one on grass in straight sets at Wimbledon 2005.

So the focus for the Betfair 'Four to Follow' falls on the men's fourth round.
Lleyton Hewitt (Australia, 16) v Novak Djokovic (Serbia, 4)
The pick of today's matches pits a former champion, Lleyton Hewitt, against a future champion in Novak Djokovic on Court 1.

Hewitt, the 2002 winner, has not failed to reach the last eight or better in his last three Wimbledons and is a great all-court scrapper who never knows when he's beaten.

Djokovic, who, with Andy Murray, is the rising star of world tennis and is up to number five in the rankings. He reached the third round on his Wimbledon debut two years ago and is now looking to better his fourth round of last year.
They have only met once - at last year's US Open when Hewitt won in straight sets. But the 20-year-old has improved leaps and bounds since then, beating Nadal on the way to winning the Miami Masters earlier this year.

Djokovic is trading at 2.16 with Betfair to reach the last eight. Hewitt is 1.85.

Nikolay Davydenko (Russia, 6) v Marcos Baghdatis (Cyprus, 10)
The winner of the Hewitt-Djokovic clash will meet Nikolay Davydenko or Marcos Baghdatis in the quarter-finals.
The Russian sixth seed takes on the 22-year-old from Cyprus out on Court 13. Davydenko had never been beyond the second round on his previous five visits to Wimbledon but is still the number six seed here despite never making a Grand Slam final.

Baghdatis, in contrast, burst into the big time last year by reaching the Australian Open final and the Wimbledon semi-finals. Since then he has struggled to recapture that brilliant form but the signs are there that he is coming back to his best, especially in swatting David Nalbandian in three sets in the third round.
Davydenko won their only meeting in Miami last year. But Baghdatis' skill on grass has him trading at 1.54 with Betfair to go through. Davydenko is 2.82.

Mikhail Youzhny (Russia, 14) v Rafael Nadal (Spain, 2)
How much has that epic battle with Robin Soderling taken out of Nadal? That's the big question he needs to answer positively today on Court 2 when the 21-year-old Majorcan faces Mikhail Youzhny.
He has met the 25-year-old Russian 14th seed seven times since 2004 and only leads 4-3. This will be their first showdown on grass.

Nadal is trading at 1.47 with Betfair while Youzhny is 3.05.
The winner will most likely meet seventh seed Tomas Berdych in the quarter-finals as the Czech ace faces 35-year-old Jonas Bjorkman in the remaining fourth-round clash. Berdych won their only meeting.

WOMEN'S

Ana Ivanovic (Serbia, 6) v Nicole Vaidisova (Czech Republic, 14)
Nicole Vaidisova, the 18-year-old boosted by her victory over defending champion Amelie Mauresmo, takes on 19-year-old Ana Ivanovic in a quarter-final clash where both girls boast identical Wimbledon records of third and fourth round efforts on their two previous visits. There's little to choose between the two six-footers as they stand 1-1 in head to heads.

Ivanovic is trading at 2.2 with Betfair and Vaidisova 1.82 to win and go through to a semi-final clash with the winner of the other quarter-final between three-time champion Venus Williams and fifth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia, who leads 3-2 in head to heads.

Justine Henin and Marion Bartoli have already won through to fill the other semi-final slot.
Play is due to start at 11am today on all courts and rain is forecast for late afternoon and early evening.