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We’re just a few days away from the start of Wimbledon and more realistically another Federer walk in the park. The Swiss star now has ten Grand Slam titles to his name and sits proudly in fifth place on the all-time winners list. Last year he became only the seventh man in history to win Wimbledon four times in a row joining the likes of Bjorn Borg and Pete Sampras. That victory was his 48th consecutive on grass and Boylesports.com rate him as short as 2/5 to further extend that run at Wimbledon. However, the really frightening thing is that he has achieved all of this before his 26th birthday.
So can he be opposed? The truth is realistically no, as Federer simply looks unbeatable on grass when on his A game. In fact, he’s pretty untouchable even with his B- game, so the secretary at the All England Club might as well start engraving now. His biggest threat looks most likely to come from Rafael Nadal again, who surprised so many last year by making the final. The young Spaniard recently wrecked Federer’s dreams of completing a Grand Slam by beating him in an epic four setter in Paris. It’s more than likely that the two will meet in the final again so at 1/2 the odds for making the final, Nadal makes plenty of each-way appeal at 6/1.
I’m afraid it looks like we’ll have to wait another year to see a British victory as Andrew Murray’s recent wrist injury has forced him out of both the French Open and Queen’s, meaning his match fitness must be in doubt. For those of you who like cheering on a big outsider, you don’t get much bigger than Ivo Karlovic. At six foot ten inches tall, the Croatian is the tallest player ever to play on the ATP tour. Although he hasn’t exactly set the world alight with his tennis so far this year, he has the perfect game for Wimbledon. In 2005 he equalled the record for the most aces served in a match by smashing 51 aces past Daniele Bracciali. He caused a massive upset in 2003 by knocking out the defending champion Lleyton Hewitt in the first round. In 2005 he reached his first ATP final at Queens and eventually lost the final to Andy Roddick 7-6 7-6. The game had no breaks of serve after which Roddick described his serve as the ‘biggest weapon in tennis’. He can be backed each-way at 66/1 (general) which appears decent value if he brings his serve with him.
The women’s title will be a far more hotly contested affair with any one of about six holding genuine aspirations. Serena Williams will be on many lists after her incredible comeback win in Australia. However, she is simply too inconsistent to warrant any financial support at this stage. The one player who makes the most appeal is last year’s runner up and current French Open Champion Justine Henin-Hardenne. The Belgian has been the model of consistency and has been a finalist in all of the past six grand slams. The 9/2 available at Totesport makes terrific each-way appeal at 1/2 the odds for making the final.
Royal Ascot comes to an end on Saturday with its fifth and final day of top-class racing. We’ve already got an interest on Amadeus Wolf for the Golden Jubilee and I certainly wouldn’t want to swap him for anything else at this point. It’s extremely hard to pick out any Royal Ascot winner, let alone the winner of the Wokingham, the most competitive sprint handicap of the meeting. Yet Richard Fahey’s Wyatt Earp looks to have been laid out for the race and, as long as he’s not drawn on the wrong side, looks bound to be in the mix-up. He won a decent six-furlong sprint handicap at York earlier in the season and last time out ran a cracker over a furlong too short. He was only beaten by 1 1/2 lengths by Hogmaneigh at Epsom that day and his trainer has made a habit of sharpening his charges up over the minimum trip in recent seasons. I remember his Fonthill Road won last year’s Ayr Gold Cup over six furlongs, having been prepared over a furlong shorter on his previous start. The 20/1 available with Boylesports.com looks exceptional each-way value.
This week’s trades:
Tennis:
Wimbledon Men’s
2pts e/w Rafael Nadal 6/1 (general)
0.5pts e/w Ivo Karlovic 66/1 (general)
Wimbledon Women’s
2pts e/w Justine Henin-Hardenne 9/2 with Totesport
Horse racing:
Royal Ascot – Wokingham Handicap
1pt e/w Wyatt Earp 20/1 with Boylesports.com
Most recent trades:
10/06/07 -2pts Raikkonen (Canadian Grand Prix)
02/06//07 -2pts Archipenko (The Derby)
01/06//07 +20pts Light Shift (The Oaks)
27/05//07 +9pts Alonso (Monaco Grand Prix)
Performance – 41 winning bets from 73 recommended bets (since Sports Trader began on 9 November 2006)
Profit – +248pts to advised stakes since start