After previewing the men’s tournament it is now time to focus on the women’s Wimbledon competition, a wide open event where there are stories of interest and focus everywhere you look at present.
One of those is Angelique Kerber and all eyes will be on her to see if she can defend the title she won 12 months ago, or whether one of the many contenders to the throne can come out on top instead.
Recent Winners
2018 – Angelique Kerber
2017 – Garbine Muguruza
2016 – Serena Williams
2015 – Serena Williams
2014 – Petra Kvitova
2013 – Marion Bartoli
2012 – Serena Williams
2011 – Petra Kvitova
2010 – Serena Williams
2009 – Serena Williams
The Format
As with the men’s tournament there has been a chance of format for the women as a tiebreak comes along at 12-12 in the third set although how many of them we are going to see remains to be seen. The tournament has already been pre-drawn with every match in the competition being over the best-of-three sets with the champion being crowned on Centre Court on the second Saturday, July 13.
Top Quarter
The new world number one and French Open champion Ash Barty is the top seed this week and as such she is the main draw in the top quarter but to be fair she has been landed with a shocker of a draw. The defending champion Angelique Kerber is also in this quarter as is the multi-time winner Serena Williams so already this is a tough section without the other five seeds who are Carla Suarez Navarro, Julia Goerges, Belinda Bencic, Donna Vekic and former winner Garbine Muguruza, nearly all of whom have grass court credentials.
It isn’t just the seeded players who are big names in this section, there is former Grand Slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, Sam Stosur and a certain Maria Sharapova making this a tournament in itself and just getting to the semi-final is going to be like winning the event. Those not in this quarter have had a right touch.
Second Quarter
Kiki Bertens is the number four seed and will be expected to come through but even though there are so many big names in the other quarter there are one or two looking to stop her here. The other seeds in this section are Lesia Tsurenko, Elise Mertens, Qiang Wang, Sloane Stephens, British number one Jo Konta, Amanda Anisimova, who had such a good tournament in the French Open last month and the Australian Open finalist Petra Kvitova.
Some decent names sit in this section who aren’t seeded in the form of Ons Jabeur, Kiki Mladenovic, Ana Bogdan who is the first round opponent of Jo Konta, Eugenie Bouchard who is a former semi-finalist in this tournament and Barbora Strycova. This isn’t as strong a section as the first quarter but it could still take some winning.
Third Quarter
Eastbourne champion Karolina Pliskova heads up the third quarter. The third seed is slated to be taking on Elina Svitolina in the quarter final but it might not work out that way given the other seeded players in this section. They include Su-Wei Hsieh, Anett Kontaveit, Marketa Vondrousova, Anastasija Sevastova, Petra Martic and Maria Sakkari, each of whom can have a case made about them over this fortnight.
Daria Gavrilova, Danielle Collins, Jelena Ostapenko, Olympic champion Monica Puig and Kirsten Flipkens have all been ranked higher than they currently are and could do some damage. Another player wanting to do some winning this week is the British player Heather Watson. This is very much a much more open section of the draw.
Bottom Quarter
The Australian Open and US Open champion Naomi Osaka heads up the bottom quarter and I’m sure she will be quietly confident having seen her draw. She is up against former world number one Simona Halep who has little to no form on the surface while the other six seeds in the section are Daria Kasatkina, Madison Keys, Aryna Sabalenka, Caroline Wozniacki, Caroline Garcia and Sofia Kenin so Osaka should be fancying her chances here.
There are one or two unseeded stars to be looking at in this section with Viktoria Azarenka never one who can be dismissed too lightly. Venus Williams has a good record here and will be inspired to go well in the twilight years in her career. Alize Cornet is another one who might be able to do a little bit of damage throughout the event.
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Outright Betting
I’m going to take a couple of outsiders for my main bets in the women’s draw this week. One of the reasons for that is so many top names are in the top half of the draw and I’m staying well away from there. My main bet comes in the bottom quarter where Naomi Osaka doesn’t convince me on this surface and I’m not convinced Simona Halep is much better so I’m happy to take them both on with the woman who conquered Serena in Paris in Sofia Kenin. Kenin looked to be creaming the ball in Paris and was going well against the eventual winner Ash Barty in the last 16 before fading in the final set but since then she has won on the grass in Mallorca and saw off some decent opposition in that tournament. She’s well away from the trouble in this draw and at 50/1 has the credentials to go deep.
Although you wouldn’t think of Jelena Ostapenko as a good grass court player having won the French Open, I’m interested to note that she has gone quarter final and then semi-final here in the last two years and that could count for something in the weak part of the draw she is in. To be fair I want to back Eastbourne champ Karolina Pliskova but she just doesn’t look like she can get over the line in a Slam and at single figures if she wins so be it. If she doesn’t Ostapenko could be the one to benefit. It is a slight concern that she pulled out of Eastbourne last week there is no getting away from that but if she is over her hip issue I fancy she could do some damage at a decent price this fortnight.
Quarter Betting
Given the amount of big names that are in the top half of the draw I don’t really want to be taking anyone to come through it but I will go with a couple of quarter punts. All the talk coming out of the Serena Williams camp is that the American is fully fit at last and is ready to do some damage. If that is the case then the 7/2 on her in this quarter is a no brainer as she is still the best in the game on grass. In the other half of the quarter, Donna Vekic made the final in Nottingham at the start of the grass court stretch and has a good pedigree on the UK lawns. She has rotten luck with draws here and has run into a brute again but 28/1 is a shade too big on her coming through here.
In the second quarter British fans might get a decent run out of Jo Konta. Konta has been to the semi-final here before which is a positive and while I would never back her to win a Slam after her meltdown in the last four in Paris when the title was hers for the grabbing, I see no reason not to take her to come out of this quarter. We don’t actually know if Petra Kvitova will line up in it yet and if she doesn’t Kiki Bertens isn’t the best grass court player so there might not be a huge amount for the British number one to beat. At 5/1 there is enough mileage in a bet here.
Tips
Back S.Kenin to win Wimbledon (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 51.00 with Betway (1/2 1-2)
Back her here:
Back J.Ostapenko to win Wimbledon (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 67.00 with 888sport (1/2 1-2)
Back her here:
WON – Back S.Williams to win 1st Quarter for a 3/10 stake at 4.50 with Coral
Back her here:
Back D.Vekic to win 1st Quarter for a 1/10 stake at 29.00 with Sky Bet
Back J.Konta to win 2nd Quarter for a 3/10 stake at 6.00 with Boylesports
Back her here:
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