Wimbledon Betting / Ben Caudell / 23 June 2008 /

Choosing winners in women's tennis can be difficult. Unlike the men's game, where the short priced players inevitably end up winning, the women's game can throw up unexplainable victories for lesser known figures. Ben Caudell give his guide to this year's women's tournament at Wimbledon.

The shortening gap between the big names and players ranked outside the Top 20 means there's every chance of shocks this year. Henin's retirement, the Williams sisters underperformance, Sharapova's struggles on clay and the emergence of exciting young talent have all helped to make the women's game a lot more open. Wimbledon will provide enormous price fluctuations, injuries and, who knows, maybe a new champion.

The transition from the clay courts of Roland Gaross proves to be a struggle for many, having to adopt different techniques to their already complex game. Players find grass frustrating, they are so used to clay and hard courts where they have plenty of time to hit the ball after the bounce and are able to slide from forehand to backhand almost instinctively. The Wimbledon courts are very fast, the bounce is low and quick, and there is no place for heavy top spin, generally players who have a good record on grass play flat ground strokes and possess a big serve.

Asian players tend to posses a number of qualities suited to Wimbledon. From a young age they are taught to play with a double handed backhand and some even play with a double handed forehand, their stokes are generally very quick and compact and their flat ground strokes make it awkward for opponents to develop rhythm. They are quick around the court and approach the net as frequently as possible. Look out for the likes of Tamarine Tanasugarn, Jie Zheng, Zi Yan, and Na Li.


Players who have what it takes to do well at Wimbledon:

Agneszka Radwanska - A fabulous 2008 season so far has seen her win 74% of her last 50 matches, including tournament wins at Eastbourne, Istanbul and Pattaya City. Her substantial rise in the world rankings is down to her natural talent for the game. Unpredictable but very effective, she won Wimbledon juniors in 2005 - Back at around [40.0] in thewin market and Lay off if she reaches the quarter-finals.

Dinara Safina - The French Open finalist is getting better and better over. Safina has become the comeback queen of tennis having faced match points against Sharapova and Dementieva ,proving that her temperament is more steadfast than that of her older brother. Possesses strong serve out wide on the deuce court, decent volleys, hard flat ground strokes and a strong will to win. Back at [28.0]

Anna Chackvetadze - A confidence player, when she is playing well there is no stopping the young Russian, however when things start to go bad she finds it very hard to turn it around. Anna's record on grass is surprisingly good, she has lost only two matches out of her last 10 and has a favourable draw at this year's Wimbledon. I see her reaching the quarter-finals where she will meet Ivanovic. Back at [250.]

Tamarine Tanasugarn - Reached the fourth round at Wimbledon on numerous occasions and is in cracking form after winning the Ordina Open beating Safina in the final in straight sets. Potentially difficult match against Jankovic in the fourth round.

Other grass court players to look out for:

Erakovic, Wickmayer, Wozniaki, Mauresmo, Kriajeck, Bondarenko sisters.

Winner:

Anna Ivanovic won the French Open and is full of confidence coming into Wimbledon where she reached the Semi Finals last year. As the number one seed she is in the easier top half of the draw. She will probably meet Serena Williams in the semi-final.

Non Lawn Mowers to lay

Bammer has had an awful run on grass so far, losing to English wild card Melanie South and Bartoli.

Sania Mirza struggles on grass with only a 30% win rate, she is always going to be one to lay early on in the tournament.

Kuznetsova admits that it's not her favourite surface, was hammered by Wozniaki recently so could go out early with a tough draw ahead of her

Zvonareva is another player who doesn't like playing on grass, I can see her losing to Tanasugarn in the 2nd round.

Vaidisova's form has dropped faster than a lead balloon, her game has always been suited to playing on the grass however her recent form suggests that her mind isn't on the game.

Recently Injured players :

Wickmayer, Hantchucova, Mauresmo, Azarenka

Summary

Wimbledon 2008 gives us great opportunities to trade. The top four seeds are too short to back in the winners market so I suggest you back a few outsiders at the start and trade out when they reach fourth round or further. Almost half the seeds will be out by the third round and that we will see the emergence of a new crop of players who are all ready knocking at the door of the top 10.

The best bet in the womans is to back Radwanska in the outright market and have a small bet on players such as Woznicki and Chackvetadze. Definitely lay Zvonareva, Vaidisova, Mirza and Kuznetsova.

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