The most storied tennis tournament in the world and the third Grand Slam event of the year gets started on Monday from the All England Club outside London. I’m speaking of course of the grass-court Wimbledon tournament, and world No. 1 Novak Djokovic is a heavy -140 favorite in the sports betting odds to win his third major of the year and thus attempt the rare calendar-year Grand Slam later this summer at the U.S. Open.
Novak Djokovic Heavy Favorite On Betting Lines To Win Wimbledon
Djokovic has won Wimbledon the past two years and three times overall. That’s as many as tennis legends Boris Becker and John McEnroe, to name two. Last year, Djokovic beat seven-time champion Roger Federer 7-6 (7-1), 6-7 (10-12), 6-4, 6-3 in the final to overtake the likes of Jimmy Connors, Andre Agassi and Ivan Lendl in the all-time list of major winners. In a tournament where Federer’s serving had been nothing short of sublime, he met his match in Djokovic. Federer made just 67% of first serves for the match and won 74% of points played on those serves (compared to 85% in his previous six matches).
Federer a holder of a record 17 Grand Slams overall, hasn’t won a major title since 2012 when he won at Wimbledon. He looks to break a tie with Pete Sampras for the record of seven Wimbledon titles. Federer is the +900 third favorite. Federer recently lost in the semifinals in both Stuttgart and Halle, his first events since withdrawing from the French Open. Federer says he will work on his baseline game going into Wimbledon.
“I got some work to do,” the world No. 3 said. “The other guys are doing their job well. So, I just have to take the right decisions from now to the start of Wimbledon. And once the tournament gets going, I [have] play the way that I want to play—positive, aggressive, mindset. Play the points my way and just be super consistent, make the opponent feel uncomfortable.”
The Swiss will celebrate his 35th birthday this August and he has won just one final at the grand slam tournaments since celebrating his 30th birthday: the 2012 Wimbledon. That means he has won a total of one of the past 24 majors. Federer himself is confident he can add to his record tally, his age and the recent arthroscopic knee surgery notwithstanding.
“I feel ready to win a major again,” Federer said last week. “I went close to winning Wimbledon and at the U.S. Open [in 2015]. At the Australian Open, too.
Djokvoic’s top challenger figures to be Scotland’s Andy Murray, who of course will have the UK fans squarely in his corner. Murray won his only Wimbledon title in 2013, beating Djokovic in straight sets. Murray completed the perfect warm-up for Wimbledon when the world No. 2 defeated Milos Raonic 6-7 (5/7), 6-4, 6-3 on Sunday to retain the Queen’s title and lift the trophy for a record fifth time.
Despite losing to Djokovic in 13 of their past 15 meetings, including this year’s Australian and French Open finals, Murray believes the return to his camp of coach Ivan Lendl this week can make the difference. While Djokovic has been resting following completion of his career Grand Slam at the French Open, Murray has been honing his grass-court game and getting reacquainted with Lendl, who proved an invaluable presence when the Scot defeated Djokovic in the Wimbledon and U.S. Open finals.
The Wimbledon draw will be this weekend but certainly Murray and Djokovic will be on opposite sides of it. One player not in the field is Spaniard Rafael Nadal. He pulled out of the French Open due to injury and still isn’t fit. Nadal has won Wimbledon twice and lost in the finals three other times.
Expert Betting Prediction
I’d like to see Federer win that eighth Wimbledon, but I simply don’t believe he will win another major at his age. Djokovic is the pick on betting lines.
