Wimbledon Women's Draw First Round upsets: JJ to KO the great KC

"But, with this being Clijsters' last Wimbledon, the sprightly Jankovic, fresh from a run to the final of the Aegon Classic, will be looking to make it a short final visit, and the Serbian seed is too good a price to pass up."

Gary and James Boswell have found six players at odds-against who can cause upsets on the first two days at Wimbledon in the wonmen's draw. Here they are.

Although the weather might not indicate it, it's Wimbledon time again. Another year's exciting tennis approaches and James Boswell has been up to his eyeballs in racquets picking the best odds of the women's first round.

Jelena Jankovic to beat Kim Clijsters priced around 3.352/1

Without doubt, the pick of the first round is the match-up between 4 times slam winner Kim Clijsters and 18th seed Jelena Jankovic. Both former world number ones, this promises to be a veritable clash of the titans which could light up the whole tournament. Clijsters carries a formidable record into the game, having beaten Jankovic in seven of the pair's eight meetings. But, with this being Clijsters' last Wimbledon, the sprightly Jankovic, fresh from a run to the final of the Aegon Classic, will be looking to make it a short final visit, and the Serbian seed is too good a price to pass up.

Tamira Paszek to beat Caroline Wozniacki priced around 3.12/1

Coming in on the back of an unlikely victory at the Aegon International in Eastbourne, Tamira Paszek faces the Danish superstar Caroline Wozniacki. Only six months her opponent's junior, Paszek hasn't enjoyed the same success as the illustrious Dane, but that could all be about to change. Grass is clearly her preferred surface, as shown by her win by the sea, as well as a quarter final finish at last year's Wimbledon. And she's a real fighter on the court, which could upset the more fluid Wozniacki. It will be a big ask to beat the former world number one, but if she can do it, the Austrian could go far.

Vania King to beat Petra Cetkovska priced around 2.781/1

My third choice sees the American Vania King pitted against Czech hopeful Petra Cetkovska. A Wimbledon doubles winner, King has never managed to translate that promise onto the singles court at SW19, but this year is set to be the turning point. Although it feels like she's been around forever, King is only 21, and she's in the best singles form of her career. She will want to attack the 23rd seed from the outset and, although Cetkovska has previous, with an impressive 4th round performance last year, King could just prove to be too strong for the Czech.

Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez to beat Ana Ivanovic priced around 4.73/1

And the prize for longest odds on my list goes to... Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, the Spanish doubles specialist. Like King, Martinez Sanchez is another player whose singles form is not as strong as her doubles', but, like King, she is a player on the rise. Her singles ranking has slowly been rising after years in the wilderness, and she is looking a more and more rounded player without a partner. Her opponent, the vivacious Ms. Ivanovic, is not to be trifled with, but she is certainly not at her strongest on the grass, so look for the Spaniard to capitalise by controlling the pace of the game. A shock in the making.

Arantxa Rus to beat Misake Doi priced around 2.31/1

One of the youngest match-ups in the first round, the meeting of the monosyllabic Rus and Doi promises to be a lively affair. Former junior world number one Rus looks a lively player who has given a good account of herself at the other majors. Doi, on the other hand, has a poor record everywhere else, but had a run to the third round at SW19 last year. In head to heads, Rus holds a slight advantage, having beaten Doi twice and lost only once, but none of these matches were played on grass. Ranked 27 places higher than her Japanese opponent, Rus is the clear favourite in my eyes, so her slight outsider odds are there to be capitalised upon.

Alexandra Panova to beat Mirjana Lucic priced around 2.581/1

The last name on my list is the Russian Alexandra Panova. Playing in her first Wimbledon, she is at the opposite end of her career to her opponent, the Croatian Mirjana Lucic. By her age though, Lucic had already won the Australian Open doubles with Martina Hingis, as well as making the Wimbledon semi-finals. After a long hiatus, Lucic has made a steady comeback, but has not made any impact at the majors. It's not the easiest of introductions to SW19 for Panova, but she does carry the higher world ranking and a 2-0 record against Lucic into the tie. Panova's is the corner to be in.

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Wimbledon Mens' Draw Betting: Five first round upsets

Wimbledon Betting / Sean Calvert / 18 June 2011 / Leave a Comment

Robin Soderling may struggle against a real grass-court specialist

"As for Soderling, he hasn’t bothered with a warm-up tournament on
grass and looked really poor against Nadal in Paris, where the
unforced error machine was cranked up to the maximum. Against a
grass-court player as good as Petzschner, this will be no formality for
the Swede."

Those odds-on shots are always tempting to stick together in a Multiple but the first round at Wimbledon has thrown up some favourites worth taking on, especially when they're grass-court haters. Sean Calvert tells us who they are.

Robin Soderling [1.22] v Philipp Petzschner [4.8]

Let's start with a potential big upset, with number five seed, Robin Soderling looking like a dodgy one to include in a Betfair Multiple, against proven grass-court performer, Philipp Petzschner.

The German reached the final on grass in Halle last week before retiring in the final with a back problem, but I would imagine that was more of a preventative measure with an eye on Wimbledon, where he's defending doubles champion, alongside Jurgen Melzer.

Petzschner's run at Halle was no real surprise, given that he reached the semis there the previous year before losing to Roger Federer; he also ran Rafa Nadal close at Wimbledon last year, when he lost in five sets after leading 2-1.

As for Soderling, he hasn't bothered with a warm-up tournament on grass and looked really poor against Nadal in Paris, where the unforced error machine was cranked up to the maximum. Against a grass-court player as good as Petzschner, this will be no formality for the Swede.

Jurgen Melzer [1.29] v Alejandro Falla [4.5]

Melzer has cost me a few quid over the years with his wildly inconsistent play, but at [1.29] I certainly won't be backing him to beat handy grass-court performer, Falla.

Many will remember Falla's performance in defeat against Roger Federer last year when he was two sets up before Fed clawed it back, but on the back of a fine effort at Roland Garros, the Colombian has a shot here.

Falla reached the fourth round at the French Open before moving swiftly to England for two grass events ahead of Wimbledon and he comes here with confidence.

Melzer had a shocker in Paris where he lost in the second round at [1.15] to Lukas Rosol and the Austrian hasn't made the effort to play a warm up tournament, which is rare for him.

At around [4.5] it's worth a back-to-lay investment that Falla can catch Melzer cold early on.

Nicolas Almagro [1.62] v Jarkko Nieminen [2.6]

Almagro has such a bad record on grass that it's worth backing him to lose against pretty much anyone in the top-100.

The Spaniard has played just 13 matches on grass in his career, stretching back to 2005 and he's lost nine of those - the latest one being at s'Hertogenbosch to Michael Berrer in the first round, when he was number one seed.

Berrer's match immediately prior to that one was a 6-0, 6-1 beating by Jo Wilfried Tsonga at Queen's, which should give you an idea of how poor Almagro is on grass.

And his two losses on the green stuff prior to that were to Andreas Seppi and Denis Istomin, so Nieminen should have a great chance in this one.

The Finn isn't the best on grass either, but his record is much better than Alamgro's and he's a former Wimbledon quarter finalist.

Another early exit beckons for Almagro, who clearly couldn't care less
about the grass-court season.

Thomaz Bellucci [1.72] v Rainer Schuettler [2.36]

Regular readers of this column will know that I've done well by backing Rainer Schuettler against seeds in Slams over the years and this match up looks like it could be another one.

The flashy Bellucci is not a lover of the grass-court season, having only bothered to turn up to Wimbledon twice before, with a best of one last-32 appearance. Indeed, he's only played nine matches on grass in his entire career.

His high risk game will need to be on to get past the solid grass-court-loving veteran, who at 35-years-old still has the fitness and guile to trouble the top players.

The Brazilian struggled through two rounds at Queen's before losing to an injured Marin Cilic, whereas Schuettler has won five of his seven matches on grass this season and is a former Wimbledon semi finalist.

Bellucci won't fancy this and when it gets tough he'll be looking for a quick exit, which the German should provide.

James Ward [3.1] v Michael Llodra [1.45]

On the back of his breakthrough week at Queen's Club, Ward is an attractive-looking price to see off serial Wimbledon first round loser, Llodra.

The Brit's confidence will be sky high after his semi final run on the green stuff and he's more than capable of giving the fragile Frenchman a run for his money on home turf.

Llodra has lost five times in the first round at SW19 and has only beaten Jesse Witten and Josh Goodall here since 2007 - and it took him five sets to defeat Goodall, who's currently number 436 in the world.

The Frenchman is also struggling with injury after retiring at Queen's, where coincidentally he would have played Ward had he not quit against Jo Wilfried Tsonga. And he's not shy of a retirement, having clocked up an amazing 25 retirements or withdrawals in his career.

Three of those have come at Wimbledon, where Llodra is yet to record
consecutive wins. Back Ward to continue the pain.

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Wimbledon Betting: Tackling The Big Four

Wimbledon Betting / Jamie "The Pacman" Pacheco / 10 June 2011 / Leave a Comment

Nadal somewhat apologetically salutes the crowd after he knocks out their darling in 2010 but this year it could all be different

"With the crowd behind him and two semis here over the last couple of years, Murray’s certainly worth siding with before the off. If only because his price is so much bigger than the other three."

Jamie Pacheco has decided that only Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray are capable of winning Wimbledon this year. But once we've got that far, how do we deal with each one in terms of the betting? Read on.

1/25. No, not the odds on one of the BBC's commentators smugly telling us how clay court specialists "don't like the uneven bounce and slick surface of our courts". The odds on that are a lot shorter. That's the number of times a Grand Slam hasn't been won by one of Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer or Novak Dkojovic over the last 25 editions. Step forward 2009 US Open winner Juan Martin Del Potro.

A case could be made for someone like Robin Soderling, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga or even Del Potro again finding a rich vein of form and hitting a barrage of winners on their way to the US Open title later on in the year. But that's highly unlikely to happen here at Wimbledon because grass is such a unique surface requiring particularly specialised skills on which to excel.

So we're going to focus solely on the three guys who have dominated Grand Slams over the past six years with one exception: we're also going to allow Andy Murray (10.5) to gatecrash our little study here. Let's start with the home favourite.

After a crushing defeat to Djokovic in the final of the US Open, Murray simply couldn't win a match, his game had gone to pieces and a slide down the rankings looked inevitable. All that changed in Monte Carlo in mid-April where he pushed Nadal all the way in the semi, losing in three. He built on that performance with another brilliant showing at the French Open, again losing to Nadal in the semis (this time in straight sets) but on another day it could have been a lot closer; the way they both played, on another surface he may even have won. The Scotsman is serving well, moving fine after that troublesome ankle appears to have healed and has shown the ability to make the most of break point chances that have come his way at Queens' this week. With the crowd behind him and two semis here over the last couple of years, Murray's certainly worth siding with before the off. If only because his price is so much bigger than the other three.

The problem Murray back-to-lay merchants have is that he'll probably have to beat Rafa Nadal in the semis (assuming Nadal is top seed and Murray seeded four) before his price shortens considerably, but that's not inconceivable. His record against Rafa at Wimbledon is poor and that's a big concern but he's the bigger server of the two and with the Spaniard looking the more fatigued of the four, we can make a case for Murray actually out-lasting Nadal in a long match...or the French Open champion not even making the semis. The Spaniard was 2-1 down to John Isner in the first round of the French Open remember and if he came up against someone like Isner, Querrey or Milos Raonic early on at Wimbledon, facing service bombs for three hours, he could be vulnerable. Of course the mark of a great champion is to win from seemingly impossible positions and play the big points better than the 'smaller' ones. Nadal is better at that than anyone but at [3.65] we don't want to be paying a premium to find out if he can keep on doing it.

We're not convinced about Novak Djokovic's Wimbledon credentials, much less his price of [4.4]. His incredible run of 41 victories in a row in 2011, which included seven tournament wins, came to an end against Federer in the semis of the French and proved to both Djokovic and the rest of the ATP Tour, that he wasn't unbeatable after all. More worrying though is Djokovic's record at Wimbledon where he has two semi-final appearances in the last six years - good, but not great - and the fact he'll go to SW19 without playing on a tournament on grass, after pulling out of Queen's. He's also confirmed he's not playing the AEGON International or The Unicef Open next week. One to lay.

Ah, Roger. Just when we thought the floppy-haired one was on the way down, he went and did what no-one had been able to do for five and a half-months. There were no injuries, fatigue, dodgy line calls or ball boys running onto the court as his opponent lined up a smash; he beat Djokovic fair and square and put in a strong display in the final, albeit in a losing cause. Pedigree doesn't come much better than six wins in south-west London and a runner-up spot but he's won just one tournament in 2011 (Qatar Open) and put in a shocker against Tomas Berdych last year in the quarter-finals for no particularly good reason. There are a few uncertainties surrounding him to justify taking the [3.85] on him, whilst his record here means he deserves too much respect for us to take him on.

Recommended bets:

3 pts lay Novak Djokovic to win Wimbledon at [4.4]
1 pt back Andy Murray at [10.5]

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The Lord's Greyhounds News: All eyes on Wimbledon

Greyhounds News / The Lord / 16 February 2011 / Leave a Comment

The Betfair Trainers' Championship returns to the south for the 2011 edition

"Juvenile night at Wimbledon will see the six handlers to be represented in the Betfair Trainers' Championship put a number of their potential team through their paces."

A big month is in store at the south west London track with the Sky cameras set to broadcast live on two occasions

Wimbledon dominates the Sky schedule for the next month with the Racing Post Juvenile on March 1 followed by the Betfair Trainers' Championship on March 22.
But the Sky slot on March 30 is still under some doubt, with Swindon lacking a sponsor for the Arc competition.
"It's quite up in the air just now," said one industry source. "Swindon were committed to the slot, but have had difficulties striking a deal with a backer. Other tracks are now looking to perhaps take the slot from Swindon, if it suits both parties and the broadcaster.
"The betting still favours the cameras rolling up at Swindon on March 30, but this whole episode has again put the Sky scheduling issue into focus. In the future the big races will take precedence, and the lesser events will have to fit in it seems."

Juvenile night at Wimbledon will also see the six handlers to be represented in the Betfair Trainers' Championship put a number of their potential team through their paces.
Boher Paddy will probably 'captain' Charlie Lister's team as the Derby favourite. He goes in the Juvenile itself, while a number of his kennelmates are also currently trialling with a view to making up Lister's eight-strong team for the shootout later in the month.
Trainers will have to provide runners for standard races, stayers events and a puppy race.
One open-race judge, looking at previous winner Lister's likely line-up, said: "It will be interesting to see how Charlie sees the six-bend races. Carbarns Tom has been a stalwart of his for the past two years but he's now retired and Droopys Belletti recently joined Ted Soppitt. But he still has Droopys Alma, who is top-class at best, although is on the way back after injury. But Charlie is a master of selecting his team."

Talking of the Betfair Trainers' Championship, Lister will be joined by his rivals for the lucrative one-off - champion trainer Seamus Cahill, Mark Wallis, Chris Allsopp, Pat Rosney and Paul Young - at the now traditional Trainers' Championship lunch, backed by Betfair, in London on March 2.

Group Skater and Lorrys Options both won their heats of the Golden Jacket at Crayford on Friday night, and must have created some sort of record in doing so.
The pair are the winners of the last two Golden Jackets. Group Skater, the Irish raider, won last year and Lorrys Options in 2009.
Victory in his heat completed a great comeback from the Dean Childs-trained Lorrys Options, whose Golden Jacket campaign ended after a few strides last year. He is aiming to be the first greyhound to regain the title.
The semi-finals take place at Crayford's morning BAGS meeting this Saturday, and boast real Irish interest with Irish pair Group Skater and Thatll Do Jack, both trained by Paul Hennessy, going head-to-head in one of the three semis.

Sunderland is the next track to feature a BAGS/SIS 500 competition.
The graded sweepstake is proving a popular, and relatively lucrative, event and will see each of the 17 BAGS track stage three graded heats and a final, each worth £500 with added heat and run prize-money. Sunderland hosts its heats on Thursday.
Belle Vue this week hosts its final, and for the Manchester track it will the first of three such competitions, as the initiative is set to be rolled out throughout the year after this initial round.

The battle for Walthamstow Stadium will this week be staged at council level.
Waltham Forest Council is under pressure from residents and the Save Our Stow campaign to help negotiate a deal to buy the famous site from London & Quadrant.
"Meetings this week and next will help put further pressure on L&Q," said one source close to the issue. "They will be shown to be landbanking the site, which will count heavily against them in any planning permission application."

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