Wimbledon

As Wimbledon fans assemble on Murray’s Mount this year, there is an even higher sense of expectation being placed on the young Scot’s shoulders.  Murray seems to have hit a run of form just in time for the grass-court slam, and his victory at Queen’s has certainly turned up the heat on the competition.

But not to forget World No. 1 Rafael Nadal is the defending champion, while Roger Federer is a six-time winner at the All England Club, and between them, the pair have won every title since 2003.

All of the top four seeds seem to be in good form of late, and it would take a brave man to bet against any of them. So, why not just back them all to get to the semi’s?

That’s right folks Paddy Power has another great Enhanced Price Special for you!

If Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray all get to the semi’s, Paddy Power will pay you odds of 4/1!

If Andy Murray or world number 1 Caroline Wozniacki win the Wimbledon singles title, VC Bet will refund all losing tournament outright bets as a FREE BET!

Rafael Nadal is 11/1 with Sky Bet to win all four Grand Slam titles in 2011 after he successfully overcame Novak Djokovic in the US Open final to claim his ninth Grand Slam crown. Last night’s victory now means that Nadal has now won five French Opens, two Wimbledon titles, one Australian and one US Open, as well as an Olympic gold medal and the Davis Cup.

It’s 6/1 for the Spaniard to fail to claim any one of the four Grand Slam titles in 2011 and 9/4 exactly one (6/2 exactly two and 100/30 exactly 3).

Sky Bet’s senior tennis compiler Chris Kennedy said “Nadal’s form was truly exceptional in the US Open final and if his body can hold up in 2011, then he could be all set to make a genuine bid for a sensational 4 Grand Slam titles in one year.” (more…)

Rafael Nadal won his second Wimbledon title with minimum fuss this afternoon after beating Tomas Berdych in straight sets. The world number one was matched at a high of 10.0 when the market first went up on Betfair but never traded shorter than that once the tournament got under way, despite trailing 2-1 in sets on two occasions, first to Robin Haase and then against Phillip Petzschner.

Tomas Berdych backers certainly got a run for their money after the Czech was matched at a high of 250.0 to win pre-tournament; he was matched at a low of 2.88 when looking strong during the first set of the final. But the right-hander found out the hard way that not taking the few chances that come your way against Nadal normally comes back to haunt you and his inability to convert the few break points he had, cost him dear. A straight sets win for the favourite was matched at a high of 3.95, who only ever touched 1.45 on the match odds market.

Serena Williams beat Vera Zvonareva in straight sets this afternoon to win her thirteenth Grand Slam title after being matched at a high of just 4.9 on Betfair’s winner market. The win puts her ahead of Billie Jean King in GS titles and in truth it was a victory that was never really in doubt; Serena didn’t face a single break point the whole match and was never troubled at all against an opponent who always looked she didn’t really believe she could win the match.

Serena was backed at a high of [2.0] to win the match in straight sets. The Serena/Nadal winning double has been backed at odds of 16.0.

All eyes will be on Wimbledon today when Andy Murray takes on Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals of the men’s singles and Sky Bet have seen 3-times as many bets on the Murray v Nadal semi-final than today’s other match between Novak Djokovic v Tomas Berdych. It’s 6/4 for Murray to become the first British male finalist since 1938 with the World Number 1 Nadal 4/7 to end Murray’s Wimbledon dream.

In the other semi-final Djokovic is 10/11 to beat Berdych (evens), who brought an end to Roger Federer’s Wimbledon campaign.

Following the exit of Federer, the door has been left open for Nadal to go on and claim his eighth Grand Slam title. The Spaniard is 11/10 to go on and win his second Wimbledon title with Murray 11/4 to be the first British male winner since Fred Perry (9/2 Djokovic and 5/1 Berdych).

Sky Bet’s Tim Reynolds said: “Whoever comes out on top in today’s semi-final between Murray and Nadal is guaranteed to go into the final as favourite for the title. We’ll be cheering on the Scot as we’ve laid Nadal for the match and also in the outright.”

From the two semi-final matches Murray is the 11/10 favourite to serve the most aces. It’s 15/2 for Britain’s Number 1 to overcome Nadal and then go on to beat Djokovic in the final. (more…)

Six-time Wimbledon Champion Roger Federer has been sensationally knocked out of Wimbledon by Tomas Berdych after being backed at just 1.18 when the market first went up on Betfair a couple of days ago.

The Swiss maestro dropped the first set but bounced back to win the second and many who have watched the notoriously flaky Berdych blow winning positions in the past were probably expecting more of the same. The Czech has looked a vastly improved player this season though, particularly between the ears, and he kept coming back at Federer, eventually winning 6-4 3-6 6-1 6-4. Berdych was backed at a high of 6.4 to win the match and now trades at 6.0 for the tournament, which is a pretty tasty position to be in for those who backed him at odds of 250.0 a few weeks back. Federer traded at a low of 2.26 to win a seventh Wimbledon title.

It’s quarter-finals day at Wimbledon today as Andy Murray aims to reach the semi-finals for the second time.

Centre Court

The action on Centre Court begins with Roger Federer v Tomas Berdych as the Swiss legend continues on the path to equalling Pete Sampras’s amazing 7 Wimbledon titles. The number 1 seed is a 1/6 shot to chalk up another victory on a court he has made his own after winning the title in 6 of the last 7 years, his epic defeat to Nadal in 2008’s final the only blot on his copy book since 2003.

Federer holds an 8-2 advantage over Berdych in the head-to-head record, with their only previous meeting at Wimbledon a routine 3-0 win for the champion back in 2006 when the Czech was just 20 years old. Berdych did reach his first Grand Slam semi-final at Roland Garros this year, but it would be a massive upset if he were to repeat the trick on grass, and Federer to win 3-0 is bound to be a popular punt at 10/11.

Next on Centre is Murray, the great British hope of the summer after England’s embarrassing failure at the World Cup, and he faces the dangerous Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. In what should be a much closer encounter, Murray is the 1/4 favourite against the powerful Frenchman who is the 11/4 outsider.

Interestingly, Muzza has won his last 20 matches against French players, and continuing with the World Cup theme, the Scot will be hoping to find Tsonga in as abject form as Les Bleus were in South Africa. That is unlikely, and despite being yet to drop a set in this tournament, Murray faces a massive challenge today. The last Frenchman to beat him? Yes, you guessed it. Tsonga. Blue Square offer 15/2 about both a 3-1 and 3-2 win for Tsonga.

Court One

Over on Court One, Novak Djokovic takes on Yen-Hsun Lu, shock conqueror of 5th seed Andy Roddick in the previous round, and many punters will be hoping for another upset as he takes on the talented but temperamental Serb. Djokovic is a 1/6 favourite to dispose of the unknown Taiwanese player, with the upset a 7/2 shot.

Following that is probably the match of the day as Robin Soderling takes on Rafael Nadal, the man who defeated him in the French Open final just 3 weeks ago, and predictably its Nadal who is the favourite here at 4/7 with Soderling a 5/4 shot.

The massive hitting Swede has some history with Nadal having accused him of wasting time during a defeat at Wimbledon a couple of years ago, and there could be some needle between these two. One of the most dangerous grass court players out there, world number 6 Soderling has every chance of getting one over the Spaniard, and Soderling +1.5 sets at 4/6 on the Handicap should be a very popular bet.

Whilst England spluttered out of the World Cup Andy Murray has marched on and is the only player through to the Wimbledon quarter-finals without dropping a single set, Paddy Power has Murray odds on at 2/7 to progress to the last four and he is also only 13/10 to maintain his clean sheet and win the last eight game against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in straight sets.

Murray has certainly chosen a good time to find form and has been cut from 15/2 at the start of the tournament to 4/1 to pick up the trophy on Sunday. The Wimbledon crowd has been waiting for many years for even a British finalist and the Scot is 13/8 to reach his first final at the most prestigious of Grand Slams.

Roberto Coladangelo spokesman for Paddy Power said: “After a mixed start to the year Murray has found form at the right time and if he can get through the game with Tsonga without dropping a set his confidence will be sky high. Certainly since England’s disappointment at the World Cup attention has been turning to SW19 and the patriotic punt is coming thick and fast for the in form Brit.”

Tsonga will be fired up for the match and knows how to beat the big seeded players, in his career high he made the final of the 2008 Australian Open as an unseeded player knocking out four top seeds, including Nadal, on the way. Paddy Power quotes the Frenchman at 5/2 to prevail over Murray. (more…)

Andy Murray is 40/1 to be warned for swearing in front of The Queen at Wimbledon on Thursday.

With Her Majesty set to attend the All England lawn tennis championships for the first time since 1977 Paddy Power are betting whether the tennis ace receives a code violation for foul or abusive language in front of his royal audience on SW19’s famous Centre Court.

Darren Haines, spokesman for Paddy Power, said: “Murray is known for a feisty on-court demeanour and doesn’t always speak the Queen’s English during a game but would he let his emotions get the better of him with some choice four letter words in front of Her Majesty?”

Hats Off To Her Majesty

Meanwhile Her Majesty is 100/1 to get hit by a stray ball and the same odds to doze off during a match. Paddy Power have also introduced their famous Queen’s Hat betting to Wimbledon. The popular bet receives thousands of bets on Ladies Day at Royal Ascot where this year Her Majesty wore a purple titfer. It’s 6/1 for a repeat of purple at Wimbldeon whilst light blue is the 4/1 favourite. A repeat of 1977’s pink is 11/2.

Of course, the last time Her Majesty attended Wimbledon the nation celebrated a British winner with Virginia Wade taking the 1977 ladies title. Should The Queen prove to be a lucky omen the odds are 7/1 for Andy Murray to win Britain’s first singles title at SW19 since that year. Murray is fully expected to win his second round match against Jarkko Nieminen at odds of just 1/14 for a victory and 13/2 for a shock loss. (more…)