Andy Murray defends his Wimbledon title after becoming Britain’s first Men’s Champion in 77-years. He reached the semi-finals of the French Open before being comprehensively beaten by Rafael Nadal but he will be more at home on this surface. He appears to be fully recovered from his back surgery and now has a new coach in the form of former Wimbledon Ladies Champion Amelie Mauresmo.
Rafael Nadal was brilliant in Paris but he is not the same player on grass. He is still good enough to have secured two Wimbledon titles but could be vulnerable in the opening rounds. Roger Federer is still a force to be reckoned with but it is difficult to see him winning at the age of 32 while Djokovic is the man to beat. He was beaten in straight sets by Murray in last year’s final but had been taken to five sets in his semi-final and I believe that proved crucial.
Recent history tells us that it is a waste of time looking beyond the big four but I’m tempted to put up three-time 2014 winner Grigor Dimitrov as an each-way alternative. He won at Queen’s Club last week and arrives here at the top of his game. He is young and fearless and could give us a good run for our money.
There is no doubt that the Ladies provided much the better entertainment in Paris and Maria Sharapova was superb. She fought back from a set down through all of the closing rounds including the final against Simona Halep and thoroughly deserved her second French Open title.
Serena Williams is the short-priced favourite and her early exit from the French certainly helped to make it a more interesting contest. You simply cannot back her at the current odds but she is obviously going to be tough to beat as she goes for a sixth Wimbledon title.
Williams has an incredible record against Sharapova, winning their last 15 meetings and they are due to meet in the quarter-finals. Beaten finalist Halep is the third seed here and she is likely to have another good tournament. She is well worth supporting at around 16-1.
The best value may be last year’s runner-up Sabine Lisicki who loves this surface and has reached at least the quarter-finals in her last three appearances here. There are any number of good players including Li Na, Jelena Jankovic and Agnieszka Radwanska that are capable of doing well in another excellent event.
Grigor Dimitrov at 20-1 Bet365, Paddy Power
Simona Halep at 18-1 Sportingbet
Sabine Lisicki at 25-1 Sportingbet
Each-way ½ odds 1,2
