Wimbledon Betting / Editor / 29 June 2007 /

With Tim Henman gone and Katie O'Brien too, Britain's Wimbledon hopes now rest largely with Andy Murray's brother Jamie and the doubles. But the men's singles is now down to the last 32 and the real title contenders are starting to emerge after a first full day's play at Wimbledon on day four.

There are some good matches on the programme for day five and here are the 'Four to Follow':
Roger Federer (Switzerland, 1) v Marat Safin (Russia, 26)

Roger Federer, the top seed and defending champion, took just 11 minutes to finish off Juan Martin Del Potro on Thursday on Court One and notch his 50th win on grass. Now he is back on Centre Court to face a far different proposition in the shape of the former US and Australian Open champion Marat Safin.

At 6ft 4in, the Russian 26th seed has a three-inch height advantage but that won't worry Federer. Safin's best at Wimbledon was a quarter-final but that was six years ago, with the head-to-head record also in favour of the world number one. They have met nine times since 2001 and Federer leads 7-2.

Of those two wins for Safin, the most recent was two years ago at the Australian Open when he beat Federer 5-7 6-4 5-7 7-6 (6) 9-7 in the semi-finals on the way to his last Major title - that is their only five-set encounter to date.

Federer is a massive favourite to go through to the last 16, with the Swiss ace trading at 1.05 while Safin can be backed at 18.5 to spring a surprise.
James Blake (USA, 9) v Juan Carlos Ferrero (Spain, 20)

Juan Carlos Ferrero may be a clay-court specialist, but the 20th seed has always done himself justice at Wimbledon. In five of his six previous visits, the Spaniard has reached at least the third round and on Friday he is bidding to make the last 16 for the third time.

Blake's Wimbledon form is less impressive, reaching the third round for the first time last year. Despite his ninth seeding he is still to make a true impact in the Majors and this will be a fascinating duel on Court One.

They have met twice in the past, with Ferrero winning both contests, in 2002 and 2006 - and both in Cincinnati. Ferrero is trading at 4.3 to make it through to the fourth round in this battle of the 27-year-olds, with Blake available to back at 1.29.
Paul-Henri Mathieu (France) v Ivan Ljubicic (Croatia, 15)

Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu will be buoyant after knocking out 17th seed David Ferrer impressively on Friday, 6-3 6-4 6-3.
He and Ljubicic have met twice with the honours even. Ljubicic won their encounter at the 2003 US Open first round in straight sets, but Mathieu evened the score by winning their Metz quarter-final in two sets in 2004.

Mathieu is in the third round for the first time but can he go further? He will find Ljubicic has much more power than Ferrer and serves plenty of aces. Ljubicic reached this stage for the first time last year and now he aims to go one better, at least.
The Croatian is on offer at 1.62 but Mathieu is trading at 2.58 to knock out another seed.

Jelena Jankovic (Serbia, 3) v Lucie Safarova (Czech Republic, 25)
Jelena Jankovic, the 22-year-old third seed, faces 20-year-old Lucie Safarova, the 25th seed, in the opening match on Court One today.

They have met once before, Jankovic winning in straight sets in the last 32 in Los Angeles last year.
Left-hander Safarova reached the last 16 at the French Open and now she wants to do it at Wimbledon for the first time. But she faces a tough test, as Jankovic reached the fourth round last year and will be expecting to go even further this time around.
Betfair punters see Jankovic as the strong 1.14 favourite to win and reach the second week, while Safarova is on offer at 7.6.

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