Tennis

It didn’t take long for the seeds to tumble with Shelton, Arnaldi, Cerundolo, Humbert and Tabilo all ousted. We could find ourselves in a similar situation to the French Open with a wide open half of the draw and a series of unpredictable results. Valentin Royer vs Alexander Zverev 1:10am* Friday | Court 1 Sets Zverev 3-0 ($1.45) Breaks of serve were few and far between in Zverev’s battle against Blockx. Three of the four sets played were tiebreakers with Zverev manging to break serve just twice in the match. He was dominant on his own serve and that is…

Svitolina, Vekic and Tauson were all first round casualties. It could have been more with Swiatek, Keys, Rybakina and Paolini being pushed to three sets. The return of Serena Williams was cut short but not before an epic that lasted almost two and a half hours. She came back from a set and a break down and even saved a match point in the second set breaker. Found herself a break up early in the third but Maya Joint broke in consecutive return games and was never headed. The big names have been put on notice and will need to…

We started the tournament with two former champions in the draw (Sinner and Djokovic) and we almost lost both on the opening day. Sinner was a shadow of himself and needed five set to get through while seven-time winner Novak Djokovic was in the thick of it in a tight four set match. Jannik Sinner vs Nuno Borges 12:30am* Thursday | Centre Court Over 30.5 games Cannot remember the last time Sinner had 31 aces in a match but he needed every one of them to get past Kecmanovic. There were question marks surrounding his physical condition leading into the…

Fernandez, Potapov and Li were the only seeded players from the top half that failed to make it through. No issues for the major contenders with Sabalenka, Pegula, Gauff and Andreeva all winning in straight sets. We take a close look at the quartet in our feature previews. Aryna Sabalenka vs McCartney Kessler 12:00am* Thursday | Court 1 Over 19.5 games ($1.92) Sabalenka usually dominates headlines for her outstanding tennis and constant stream of titles. This time around prize money has been the topic but it did not detract from her firs round performance. She broke serve five times in…

Whether it be due to ranking, seeding or pure luck, the 64 players in action today have an advantage before a single ball has been hit. They are in the opposite side of the draw to Sinner and Djokovic which can turn into a significant advantage. Alexander Zverev capitalised in Paris to claim his maiden major title and there are several others including Shelton, Fritz and Draper who would like to follow his lead. The match of the day sees Taylor Fritz take on Jack Draper and 15,000+ British fans. Alexander Blockx vs Alexander Zverev 12:00am* Wednesday | Court 1…

The defending champion usually dominated headlines leading into a Grand Slam but that has not been the case for Iga Swiatek as all the attention has been in the direction of Serena Williams. With 23 majors including 7 Wimbledon titles next to her name, it is understandable but people should remember that it has been almost a decade since she last lifted a major trophy – 2017 Australian Open. One thing we can be assured of is that the pressure will be on her opponent and not her. Serena Williams vs Maya Joint 3:20am* Wednesday | Centre Court Over 20.5…

Defending champion Jannik Sinner will open proceedings on centre court in what will be his first match since he bowed out unexpectedly from the French Open. He got the better of his biggest rival (Carlos Alcaraz) in the final and it was the first time since 2017 that Novak Djokovic did not compete in the last match of the tournament. The 7-time winner is also in action to today with the most notable matchup being Cilic versus Medvedev. Jannik Sinner vs Miomir Kecmanovic 12:30am Tuesday | Centre Court Kecmanovic To Win A Set – YES No tennis since his dramatic…

A shift from clay to grass will see a different brand of tennis being played and a long list of upsets. The likes of Sabalenka, Pegula, Gauff, Andreeva and Osaka will be hoping to avoid the early carnage but nobody can afford to drop their guard on the opening day of The Championships. Aryna Sabalenka vs Teodora Kostovic 2:10am* Tuesday | Centre Court Over 17.5 games ($1.75) Sabalenka’s quest for an elusive Wimbledon title begins against an 18-year-old qualifier. Kostovic is part of a young wave of teenagers making an impact on the WTA Tour and it is necessary to…

Mirra Andreeva broke through for her first major title at the French Open and we have now had at least one new major winner on the WTA Tour in 11 of the last 12 seasons. We have had 10 different women win Wimbledon in the last 10 years which makes recent form a high priority when looking to find the next champion. The bulk of the big names have underperformed since making the switch to grass from clay which includes Sabalenka, Gauff, Swiatek, Rybakina and Andreeva. Instead, we will focus on the list of players that have contested at least…

We added a new Grand Slam champion to the list in Paris with Alexander Zverev breaking through for his maiden major title. Injury or illness were listed as the two things that could stop world no.1 Jannik Sinner and it eventuated as he lost 18 of the last 20 games. Weather will not be an issue here, but we have not seen him since which raises several question marks. The same applied to 7-time champion Novak Djokovic which gives life to the remainder of the field. Best A New Winner of the Men’s Title ($3.40) There are only two former…