After being cancelled last year, the All England Club Lawn Tennis Championship, or Wimbledon as it is more commonly known, is back. The only grass court Grand Slam event of the year begins today with the first round of games across the many different tournaments taking place this year.
The prime focus for tennis fans will of course be the men’s and women’s tournaments, with Novak Djokovic and Simona Halep the last winners of these tournaments back in 2019. Halep will miss out on defending her title due to a calf injury, but Djokovic will most certainly be attempting to defend the title he has won five times already.
With 128 players in both draws, including British ace Andy Murray making his eagerly awaited return to the tournament, it promises to be an exciting couple of weeks of tennis with plenty of great betting options to enjoy.
If you want to enjoy a wager on Wimbledon, then bet365 Sport is a great place to consider. Not only does the site offer a wide range of pre-match bets, as well as In Play betting, but it also has a couple of good value tennis promotions available too.
If you are tuning in to the action from SW19 from the United States, then BetRivers Sportsbook is a very good choice for sports betting fans. Not only is the site available across a number of states, but it has a good selection of tennis markets available across a broad spectrum of tennis tournaments, including of course the Grand Slam events.
Let’s now quickly preview the tournament, before we focus in on the players to watch or maybe even back in both the women’s and men’s tournaments this year.
Wimbledon – A Brief History
Wimbledon is the oldest tennis tournament in the world, founded in 1877. The 2021 tournament will be the
134th event in its long and colourful history and with total prize money of £35,000,000 up for grabs, it will be the richest tournament too.
The tournament is famous for its traditions, which includes players all having to wear all white for the tournament, royal patronage as well as champagne and the famous strawberries and cream being served to spectators.
The most successful player in the tournament history in terms of singles titles is Martina Navratilova, who has won nine titles in the ladies draw. Roger Federer holds the record in the men’s tournament having landed eight victories in total.
Alongside the men’s and women’s draw, three doubles events are also played, men’s and women’s doubles, plus mixed doubles. The tournament also has junior events as well as invitational events for older players, and disabled competitors.
Let’s now take a look at the men’s and women’s tournaments which get underway today, looking at some of the big names competing, some of those who will be absent, and of course giving you our tips for the players to back in each event.
Men’s Tournament 2021
- Holder – Novak Djokovic (Serbia)
A quick look at the odds for the men’s tournament at Wimbledon this year tends to reveal that the
bookmakers think that it is not a question of if Novak Djokovic will win his sixth Wimbledon title, but just a matter of when.
The Serbian world number 1 is the odds on 8/11 favourite to win the title for a third consecutive time and given his amazing performance at the recent French Open, where he beat the master on clay, Rafael Nadal in the semifinals, and then came back from 2-sets down to beat Stefanos Tsitsipas in five sets.
That win handed him his 19th Grand Slam title, he is now just one behind both Federer and Nadal, who hold the record in the men’s game with 20. It seems few would bet against Djokovic joining those two greats on 20 at the end of the Wimbledon tournament.
His victory at the French Open means he is the first man in the open era to win every Major, Masters 1000 and ATP Finals title at least twice. Nobody else has ever achieved that in tennis history.
Who will be his biggest threats at this year’s tournament? The man he beat in the French Open, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Daniil Medvedev will likely challenge, as will the veteran Roger Federer who has produced magic at Wimbledon so often in his career. Matteo Berrettini and Alexander Zverev are also listed as potential rivals.
Rafael Nadal has pulled out of the event, which makes Djokovic’s task considerably less daunting.
However, Djokovic is so far ahead of the majority of other male players, that it is hard to see how he can fail here. Perhaps if Federer is inspired, he may push the Serbian hard, but that looks likely to be the only major obstacle standing in between Djokovic and success here.
With Andy Murray facing huge fitness issues and not likely to reach the second week of the tournament, this looks very likely to be Djokovic’s title to lose.
Tip – With no credible challengers for me, Novak Djokovic is the man to back here even at the very short odds of 8/11.
Women’s Tournament 2021
- Holder – Simona Halep (Romania)
You could not get two more contrasting tournaments than the men’s and women’s events at Wimbledon.
While the men’s event looks like being another storm to success for Novak Djokovic, the women’s tournament is absolutely wide open and almost any of the 128 people competing in the first round of the event, may fancy their chances of winning it.
The tournament is even wider open than usual due to a couple of key withdrawals. Naomi Osaka confirmed she would miss Wimbledon this year as she continues to take care of her mental health, while defending champion Simona Halep also missed out through injury.
The result of that is a wide open tournament with bet365 currently listing Serena Williams and Ashleigh Barty as the joint-favourites at 11/2. That duo are comfortably ahead in the betting of Petra Kvitova and Aryna Sabalenka, who are both rated at 10/1.
You then have Iga Swiatek and Garbine Muguruza at 16/1, Cori Gauff at 20/1, Elena Rybakina at 22/1 and Jelena Ostapenko, the winner at Eastbourne, a 28/1 shot.
There are also a whole glut of players at 33/1 including French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova, veteran Angelique Kerber and the beaten finalist at Eastbourne Anett Kontaveit.
Tip – Picking a winner for the women’s event is tough but I think Garbine Muguruza, a two-time Champion here, is well worth a look at 16/1.
