Wimbledon Tennis Betting 2009

The famous All-England Tennis Club in SW19 will roll out the red carpet (or rather lush green turf) to welcome the cream of the planet’s tennis glitterati to the most famous sight on the tennis map come June, so what better time than here and now to assess who’s who and what’s what from a free bets perspective.

Wimbledon Centre Court

Yesterday, 17th May the long awaited retractable roof was unveiled. No more sitting under umbrellas and no more hanging around in the locker rooms for the players while the rain falls.

It was a celebration on the packed Centre Court with Tim Henman, Steffi Graf, Andre Agassi and Kim Clijsters being the first players on court this year playing a short game of Mixed Doubles and Singles to the delight of the crowd.

The merest mention of the word wimbledon in ear shot of some folk and they immediately conjure up images of endless servings of strawberries and cream, a throng of ticket-less yet fiercely patriotic home-spun tennis fans congregated on Henman Hill, sudden tropical thunderstorm-like downpours delaying crucial centre court decider (closely followed by an impromptu Cliff Richard sing-a-long) and Russian teen starlets (depending on your persuasions). Quite possibly something for everyone.

2009 Wimbledon Tennis Championships Offer Free Bets Opportunities

But what we really want to ascertain is who (or what in terms of realistic odds) will tickle the fancy of the average free bets punter who’s likely to be watching the all-important matches from the relative comfort of their own widescreen, HD-ready-occupied living room. Which is precisely the juncture where we come in and predict the outcome of the both the men’s and ladies’ singles titles. And the doubles and mixed doubles for those who can’t get enough tennis action crammed into two weeks at the tail end of June.

All the leading online bookmakers are offering Free Bets to virtual punters to wager on the 2009 Wimbledon Tennis Championships, the following just a selection of the deals available at the moment;

Wimbledon Tennis Championship Finals Might Depend On Power Play Once Again

We happen to speak with some degree of authority on certain betting matters too, testament of which was the time we had the foresight (and bravery according to sceptics) to risk our wages on the big-serving Croatian Goran Ivenisevic to re-capture some past glories in the 2001 Wimbledon Tennis Championships. Despite the fact his arrival at the All-England Club that year was thanks to his past achievements in the tournament as opposed to his then disparaging form (offered a wildcard entry), the 150-1 ranked outsider brushed aside the competition (including Tim Henman who had no idea what had hit him) to go head to head with the equally powerful Australian Patrick Rafter. And to run out the eventual – and hugely unlikely – winner of the coveted trophy. And net us some useful pocket money to boot.

Fast forward some eight years though, and it’s an altogether different story, with most of the modern day tennis combatants able to hard slog it out on clay, grass or concrete. Even our own great hope to achieve the impossible dream of emulating Fred Perry and winning the Men’s Singles title – the latest in a long line of pretenders who never quite made the grade – Andy Murray, has more than the one ace up his now bulging sleeves when it comes to aggressive, baseline to baseline power play.

But of course if conversing on the subject of the pumped-up, gym-head approach that’s now almost omnipresent on the tennis tour then look no further than Rafael Nadal; who’s deltoid and trapezium muscles appear to do the talking for him out on court. The polar opposite at first, second and third glance from his current sparing partner on the professional circuit that is, Roger Federer. A man more in tune with 1930s movie star ‘holidaying’ fashion than a creatine drink courtesy of the dapper Swiss’ compunction to turn out (during Wimbledon fortnight at least) in a natty cardigan and blazer combo.

The 2008 Wimbledon Men’s final was tantamount to watching Hugh Grant square up to Vin Diesel across the net, in what manifested itself as an epic five-setter battle royale that ultimately was consigned to the annals of grand slam tennis history as one of the classics; if not one of the longest duals. Five hours – and two rain delays – saw Nadal steal his first Wimbledon title from the vice-like grip of the previously unbeatable and seemingly unflappable Federer.

Some of you might even be able to cast your minds back to the early 1990s and what was seen as the greatest single threat to the indignant white-only colour rule spelt out by the establishmentarian All-England Club - and that had been implied and robustly adhered to every step, serve and return of the way - since the tournament’s inception. In the bad-boy guise of Andre Agassi - the pony-tailed, scruffily-dressed almost militant-stanced enfant terrible of the US circuit – the States had their own tennis sensation, a man who was desperate to make the same sort of waves on these shores. In 1991 he came out of his self-imposed All-England Club exile and finally the (allegedly) over-sexed and over-paid Agassi was over here to mix things up a bit.

2009 Wimbledon Tennis Championship Men’s Singles Odds

So what’s in store for the 2009 Wimbledon Men’s half of the draw? Is SW19 set for any Agassi-esque rude awakenings this summer? Will there be any repeats of a fresh-faced German in the mould of Boris Becker scorching the tramlines? Will we see another Pat Cash-a-like clamber up the centre court interior architecture to celebrate with his/her nearest and dearest in their victorious moment? Well, it would take an ambitious punter (and a gargantuan effort by a player other than the ‘big two’) to see beyond a final that didn’t consist of the usual suspects of current world number one Federer and Nadal ramming home their finely balanced points on the final Sunday from the outset.

An underlying factoid that hasn’t been lost on any of the leading online bookmakers who installed the habitually warring pair at 13-8 on average across the markets in advance of the uptake of hostilities. Finding Novak Djokovic (6-1) and Andy Murray (7-2) represents good value for money though, as does the rapidly emerging Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (12-1). It’s too early to say if and when this triumvirate will wrestle the Federer and Nadal from their tennis perches at Wimbledon 2009.

Wimbledon Tennis Championship Ladies Singles 2009 Odds

And then there’s the 2009 Wimbledon Ladies Singles title, and the small matter of deliberating over just which of the current crop of women will go all the way, and which (if any) have got the game to possibly break the stranglehold of the ubiquitous Williams sisters on the day. Venus (2-1) as we’re aware is set to defend her 5th Ladies Singles silver plate this year, with her sibling Serena (5-2) one of the main obstacles to this tennis career goal. Outside of the Williams brethren, and it could be all about Dinar Safina (14-1) or the French-born 2006 Wimbledon Champion, Amelie Mauresmo (25-1).

And only the short-sighted would overlook the threat posed by a trio of eastern European women, the charge of which will be spearheaded by Maria Sharapova (13-2) and Jelena Jankovic (12-1); although both Ana Ivanovic (10-1) and Svetlana Kuznetsova (33-1) are capable of queering their pitch given opportunity. And unseeded early round opponents/favourable draw.

Meanwhile, free betting tennis fans would be ill-advised to write off the chances of either Elena Dementieva (25-1) or Victoria Azarenka (20-1) from causing upset in the Williams’ household somewhere along the Wimbledon way.