Event Feature: 2009 Wimbledon Championships

by Bodog Sportsbook | Jun 22 2009

It's time for a new Wimbledon tradition: strawberries and tendinitis.

Rafael Nadal's bad knees are preventing him from defending his hard-won 2008 Wimbledon title, thus denying tennis fans a chance to see Nadal and Roger Federer lock horns at the finals for the fourth time in a row. All they did last year was play a record four hours and 48 minutes of epic tennis before Nadal prevailed 9-7 in the fifth set. Who wouldn't want to see more of that?

I can think of a few bettors who were on Federer last year who could do without a repeat performance. Nadal (+130) was finally able to translate his dominance from clay to grass courts and take the No. 1 ranking from Federer (-150), who had won his previous 65 matches on grass. Was it a permanent changing of the guard at Wimbledon? That was one fewer question handicappers had to ask themselves heading into Monday's opening round.

Federer is the easy favorite (make sure to check Bodog Sports for the latest odds) and the first under the microscope as we preview the top three faves in both the men's and women's draw.

Men

1. Roger Federer (5-7): The top seed was a -20000 favorite in Monday's first-round match over Taiwan's Lu Yen-Hsun. Federer won five Wimbledons in a row before losing to Nadal in 2008. He has yet to play on grass this year and is playing his first event since taking the 2009 French Open; his record of 33-6 overall this year includes 0-2 records against both Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic.

2. Andy Murray (12-5): The pride of Dunblane, Scotland has to wait until Tuesday for his first-round match as a -10000 chalk against Robert Kendrick (+1600). Murray's getting major support at British books and could see some of that fervor extend offshore. He's 40-6 this year, plowing through five opponents in straight sets (No. 16-ranked James Blake being the toughest) to take the Queen's Club warm-up event in London. And Murray doesn't have to worry about facing Nadal in the semifinals, while Federer has a potential matchup with Djokovic.

3. Novak Djokovic (12-1): The charismatic Serb lost to No. 41 Tommy Hass in the final of his warm-up event in Germany, falling to 21-8 lifetime on grass and 43-13 overall this year. Monday's first-round matchup with France's Julien Benneteau (+800) is an honest test. Benneteau won the first of their three career matches in 2006 at Indian Wells; however, Djokovic (-2000) has skyrocketed since then, all the way to the 2008 Australian Open title with a victory over Federer. He won the first four matches of his career series with Murray before dropping the last three - none of them fought on grass.

Women

1. Serena Williams (9-4): Dinara Safina (9-1) is the top seed, but the younger of the Williams sisters is the Wimbledon favorite after destroying Safina 6-0, 6-3 to win the Australian Open. Serena is a two-time winner at Wimbledon, last holding up the Rosewater Dish in 2003 and losing to sister Venus in 2008. They're on opposite sides of the draw for a potential rematch; in 20 career contests, each sister has won 10 times, splitting their four encounters at Wimbledon. Neither has played yet this year on grass. Serena was -8000 in her first-round meeting with Neuza Silva (+1250).

2. Venus Williams (3-1): Venus is the two-time defending champion and looking for her sixth title this decade. She's getting longer odds than her sister in part because of the potential semifinal matchup with Safina. Venus is -3300 to beat Stefanie Vogele (+1000) in Tuesday's first-round meeting; it's been 12 years since Williams last failed to advance to the second round. Her style of play is eminently suited for grass, with a lightning serve and a powerful volley on both forehand and backhand.

3. Maria Sharapova (8-1): The photogenic Russian has also historically done her best work on grass, with a career record of 47-8 and a Wimbledon title in 2004 over Serena Williams. But her serve has changed since undergoing shoulder surgery in 2007, and Sharapova hasn't made it past the fourth round in either of her last two trips to SW19. She lost 6-4, 6-4 to No. 20-ranked Li Na at her Wimbledon warm-up in Birmingham, England. Sharapova was "only" a -1200 chalk in Monday's matchup with Viktoriya Kutuzova (+600).