If the men’s event at Wimbledon 2021 looks a fairly one-sided affair the same certainly can’t be said of the women’s competition where there are many potential winners in what could be one of the most intriguing renewals of this title for a long time.
Simona Halep won the title two years ago but she won’t get the chance to defend her crown as injury has forced her out. That means we are guaranteed a different winner here with all eyes on the woman she beat to win the title in Serena Williams.
Recent Winners
2019 – Simona Halep
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
The Format
As with the men’s tournament we are into the second year of the new 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 10.
Top Quarter
The world number one Ash Barty is often touted as having an ideal game for grass but she has never been beyond the fourth round of this tournament. She is the number one seed this fortnight though and is in the top quarter as a result. There are seven other seeds in her quarter and they begin with the former US Open champion Bianca Andreescu. Daria Kasatkina had a good showing at Eastbourne and she’s here too as are Anett Kontaveit, the finalist at Devonshire Park, Victoria Azarenka, the French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova and Kiki Bertens. Jo Konta was meant to be a seed in this quarter but she had to come out of the draw on the eve of the event.
This part of the draw isn’t loaded with players who are household names but there are a few who will be known to tennis fans. It will be an emotional time for Carla Suarez Navarro who is back at SW19 after her health scare. Coco Vandeweghe has had success here in the past while Marta Kostyuk impressed at the French Open. Anastasia Sevastova, Andrea Petkovic, Sorana Cirstea, Marketa Vondrousova and the Eastbourne champion Jelena Ostapenko are all here too.
Second Quarter
Elina Svitolina is the highest ranked player in the second quarter this year. The 2019 semi-finalist is yet to make a Grand Slam final but is ranked highly enough to be a high seed. Her big problem though is the other leading seed in this section is the multi-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams who will be eyeing up tying the record of Margaret Court over this fortnight. The other six seeds are Paula Badosa, Karolina Muchova, French Open finalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Belinda Bencic, Coco Gauff and Angelique Kerber.
There is no shortage of names who are recognisable to tennis fans in this section of the draw who are unseeded either. They include Elena Vesnina, Ana Bogdan, Eastbourne semi-finalist Camila Giorgi, Yulia Putintseva, Amanda Anisimova and Alison van Uytanck. There is also a British representation in this part of the draw with the wildcard Francesca Jones finding herself in with some seasoned campaigners.
Third Quarter
The former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin is the highest seed in the third quarter of the draw. She is due to take on the big serving but low on form Karolina Pliskova in the quarter final if everything goes to the seedings. Six players are seeded hoping to ensure that won’t be the case and they are Alison Riske, Jessica Pegula, former winner Petra Kvitova, Elise Mertens, Madison Keys and Veronika Kudermetova so there are some power players in this section.
There are plenty of unseeded stars in this quarter as well and they include Donna Vekic who has gone well on the grass in the past. French Open semi-finalist Tamara Zidansek is also in this quarter as are the likes of French ace Caroline Garcia, former US Open champion Sloane Stephens and Danielle Collins. There is also a strong British showing in this quarter with Heather Watson in here along with the likes of Katie Swan and Harriet Dart.
Bottom Quarter
Aryna Sabalenka is the second seed this week and as such she is the highest seed in the bottom quarter of the draw. Her expected quarter final opponent if the draw goes the way it is expected to is former French Open champion Iga Swiatek so the other six seeds in this part of the draw might think there is a chance for one or more of to go deep. They are Petra Martic, Ons Jabeur, Garbine Muguruza, Maria Sakkari, Elena Rybakina and Ekaterina Alexandrova.
There are more big names who don’t have a seeding in this bottom quarter this week, the pick of whom are the former champion Venus Williams. Svetlana Kuznetsova is another former Grand Slam champion in this section of the draw and then there are the likes of Mihaela Buzarnescu, Shelby Rogers and doubles specialist Kiki Mladenovic. There is also British talent in the form of Katie Boulter while the veteran Vera Zvonereva can play on this surface.
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Outright Betting
I’ll go with one in either side of the draw because there are quarters in both halves where there are doubts over the main seeds. In the top half, I like the Eastbourne champion Jelena Ostapenko. Ostapenko was known to be a good grass court player prior to her run at Eastbourne last week where she was hitting the ball extremely well. She is a former semi-finalist here, losing to the eventual champion in the last four in 2018 and she beat five decent players last week in winning the title at Devonshire Park so there is a lot to like about the Latvian. Her form has steadily been getting better and with fitness concerns over Ash Barty who hasn’t played since withdrawing at the French Open, and regular issues with the body of Bianca Andreescu, the draw could really open up for Ostapenko who has already won a Grand Slam in her career.
It could also open up for Ons Jabeur who should be full of confidence after she won the title in Birmingham a couple of weeks ago. Jabeur has been steadily rising in the rankings and has the ideal game for grass with her wonderful variety of shots which can keep low on the surface and make life very tough for her opponents. Iga Swiatek has made it clear she has a lot of improvement to make on this surface and while Aryna Sabalenka smacks the ball as hard as anyone on tour, her movement on grass will be tested so this draw could quickly open up for the Tunisian. Jabeur has a shocking record here but she won three ITF titles on the grass while making her way up the rankings and Birmingham earlier this month so she can play on the surface. I’ll pay to see if she can finally start winning matches at SW19.
Quarter Betting
I’ll also take one in the quarter betting where Karolina Muchova looks overpriced to me in what is admittedly a good second quarter. It is the quarter which has Serena Williams and Angelique Kerber in it but they are scheduled to meet in the third round so only one of them will be in the second week. The other seed to worry about in the section is Belinda Bencic and she is also in that section with Serena and Kerber. Muchova is in the other half of the quarter to that trio so she will only need to beat one of them – in the quarter final.
Her route to that stage takes her through Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova who comes here off the back of French Open disappointment whereas Paula Badosa is more a clay court player and Elina Svitolina never convinces me at a Grand Slam. Muchova was a quarter finalist here in 2019 when she lost to Svitolina ironically but she clearly had nothing left to give after a 3 hour 20 minute epic with Karolina Pliskova in the round of 16 the day before. The Czech made the semi-final in Australia earlier this year so she can go the distance in a quarter at this level and looks overpriced to come through this one at 10/1.
Tips
Back J.Ostapenko to win Wimbledon 2021 (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 29.00 with Bet365 (1/2 1-2)
Back O.Jabeur to win Wimbledon 2021 (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 41.00 with BetVictor (1/2 1-2)
Back her here:
Back K.Muchova to win 2nd Quarter for a 1/10 stake at 11.00 with Betway
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