We have had two wonderful stories in the Grand Slams on the women’s side of things so far in 2017 and much is expected in what is potential the most open Wimbledon tournament there has ever been.
With Serena Williams out with her pregnancy we are guaranteed a different winner this year. Maria Sharapova pulled out prior to qualifying which has left the door open for someone to pounce through.
Recent Winners
2016 – Serena Williams
2015 – Serena Williams
2014 – Petra Kvitova
2013 – Marion Bartoli
2012 – Serena Williams
2011 – Petra Kvitova
2010 – Serena Williams
2009 – Serena Williams
2008 – Venus Williams
2007 – Venus Williams
The Format
As with the other Grand Slams the 128 players who have made it into the draw have been pre-drawn into the bracket where the tournament is a straight knockout. Each match is the best of three sets and there is no tiebreak in the final set. The champion will be crowned on Saturday July 15.
Top Quarter
The 2016 beaten finalist and world number one Angelique Kerber is the top seed this year and she is in this quarter. Svetlana Kuznetsova is seeded to be her quarter final opponent. Lucie Safarova, Kiki Bertens, Garbine Muguruza, Agnieszka Radwanska, Timea Bacsinszky and Lauren Davis are the other seeds here.
There are some dangerous unseeded players in this part of the draw. Ekaterina Makarova is the most dangerous of them while the Olympic champion Monica Puig and Japanese star Misaki Doi are both capable players.
Second Quarter
Tournament favourite Karolina Pliskova is the headline seed in this part of the draw. If the tournament goes to plan she will face Caroline Wozniacki in the quarter final in what would be a repeat of the Eastbourne final. Shuai Zhang, Daria Gavrilova, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Kiki Mladenovic, Coco Vandeweghe and Daria Kasatkina are the other seeds.
Tsvetana Pironkova is a former semi-finalist here and she is an unseeded player in this quarter while Timea Babos, Sara Errani and Alison Riske are all capable of surprising big names.
Third Quarter
Elina Svitolina is the leader of the seeds here with Dominika Cibulkova her potential opponent in the last eight. Venus Williams will go in search of another Wimbledon title from this section with Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, Madison Keys, French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko, Barbora Strycova and Ana Konjuh are the other seeds.
Former finalist Sabine Lisicki is in this part of the draw but isn’t a seed while Alize Cornet has been seeded in big events before. Ashleigh Barty is enjoying a good season too.
Bottom Quarter
Simona Halep is the highest ranked player in this part of the draw but all British eyes will be on Johanna Konta who goes for glory from this section. Roberta Vinci, Caroline Garcia, former champion Petra Kvitova, last year’s semi-finalist Elena Vesnina, Anastasija Sevastova and Carla Suarez-Navarro are the other seeds.
Eugenie Bouchard will get plenty of attention in this part of the draw as will former world number one Victoria Azarenka while Nottingham champion Donna Vekic is a dangerous floater here too. Marketa Vondrousova arrives with a big reputation too.
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Outright Betting
I really do believe this draw is so wide open. We’ve just had a three figure winner of the previous Grand Slam and while I don’t think we will get anything that big I would not be at all surprised if the winner of this tournament comes from outside the top 20 in the world rankings.
I’ve identified the top quarter and the third quarter as the ones to go at and in the top part Lucie Safarova looks a massive price at 66/1. Safarova has made the second week here for each of the last three years and the confidence her doubles success can give her may be crucial here. The Czech has a great game for grass and wins a lot of points off her serve which is imperative. Safarova was a semi-finalist in Nottingham and Birmingham and had a good hard court season. If she has recovered from the injury she picked up in Birmingham she could run strong at a big price.
Ashleigh Barty was the runner up in Birmingham which was almost forgotten because of the wonderful story of Kvitova winning the tournament but that continued a good season so far. She won in Kuala Lumpur and alongside Casey Dellacqua she is flying in doubles which should give her confidence. Barty has found a nice draw in the third quarter and if she can account for Svitolina she may go a long way in this.
Quarter Betting
I can’t resist punts in the other two quarters with my pick in the second quarter being Coco Vandeweghe. In all fairness Karolina Pliskova is going to take some beating but the American has a big game and looks a big price in what I perceive to be the likely quarter final. At 15/2 I’ll take her to come through that section.
I was going to be all over Venus Williams in the bottom quarter but this law suit that has popped up against her puts me off of that so instead I will turn my attention to a real long shot in Donna Vekic. Admittedly Vekic has no Grand Slam form to speak of but she won in Nottingham last month and winning momentum could be crucial. With the exception of Kvitova and with doubts over Konta’s fitness all the big players could be in the other part of this quarter. Vekic wouldn’t meet Kvitova until the last 16 and the Czech could be running on empty by then. It is a long shot but worthy of a play.
Tips
Back L.Safarova to win Wimbledon (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 67.00 with Betbright (1/2 1-2)
Back her here:
Back A.Barty to win Wimbledon (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 51.00 with Betfred (1/2 1-2)
Back her here:
Back C.Vandeweghe to win 2nd Quarter for a 2/10 stake at 8.50 with NetBet
Back her here:
Back D.Vekic to win 4th Quarter for a 1/10 stake at 51.00 with Boylesports
Back her here:
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