The Wimbledon Championships are about to get underway as the action begins next week. In the meantime, Rafael Nadal has pulled within two major titles of Roger Federer all-time record, cutting the gap to 20-18. While Nadal will be making a strong push to overtake Federer for the most majors of all time, the favourite for this grand slam is Novak Djokovic. The Serbian won last year’s tournament, and has won three of the last five Wimbledons played.
The winner is expected to be one of these three, so who is the best Wimbledon sports bet?
Novak Djokovic
Wimbledon Odds: +150
The four-time Wimbledon champion is also the defending champion this year. Novak Djokovic is the best hardcourt player of this decade and there once was a time when many tennis bettors felt that grass would be his worst surface. Four Wimbledons indicate otherwise.
He’s played very well entering the year as he won the Australian Open (beating Rafael Nadal in the final) and enters Wimbledon having won 14 of his last 16 matches. Of the three elite players, he’s the one to beat. He’s won three of the last five Wimbledons and has made it to at least the semis in seven of his last nine appearances here. Needless to say, Djokovic is the sportsbooks favourite.
Rafael Nadal
Wimbledon Odds: +550
The Nadal outlook at Wimbledon is a lot more positive this year compared to the past several years. Nadal had entered 2018 without a Wimbledon semifinal appearance since 2011. He reached the final that year and lost to Djokovic. After that, he endured a very long Wimbledon drought, failing to get past the fourth round in any of the next six tournaments.
He enters Wimbledon with new hope because he proved that he’s still got it at the French Open. We saw him have an uncharacteristically shaky start to the clay-court season. He had won multiple clay-court tournaments every year since 2005 but struggled early on. He didn’t win his first until Italy and then he took the French right after. The means he enters on a 12-match winning streak, playing his best tennis of the year.
If Nadal and Djokovic play their best, it’s likely Djokovic who will win. However, Nadal has shown that at age 33, he’s still a Top 2 or 3 player in the world, which means he should make a deep run here.
Roger Federer
Wimbledon Odds: +330
The Federer trophy case just grew larger, with Federer’s 10th career title in Halle, Germany. Federer was not tremendously sharp for most of the tournament. He barely beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Roberto Bautista Agut in the middle rounds and struggled in the first set of the final against David Goffin before rolling through the second set. It’s fairly clear that the 37-year-old is in the twilight of his career, but he’s not a man you want to underestimate.
Technically speaking, he needs to improve his return game and polish his backhand, and his serve speed wasn’t always where it needed to be. Yet, he is such a proven champion on grass that it will be hard for someone to knock him off before the semifinals. If he can dispose of everyone in straight sets before he faces Nadal or Djokovic, he should have a chance to add to his trophy collection.