Nobody’s got a clue who will win this years Wimbledon, either in the men’s singles or the women’s. This is largely due to the uncertainty Wimbledon betting fans feel about how various players match up to one another on the different surfaces used in the major tournaments. Federer was embarrassingly trashed by Nadal in the French Open but bookies have him to take the top honours at Wimbledon. Maria Sharapova barely featured in France, beaten in the quarter finals, but is top dog for Wimbledon this year, if the Williams sisters allow it.
 
How a player ‘matches up’ against another is a useful indicator of how a match will turn out. Obviously, all players have strengths and weakness but two players can be said to match up when each perceives the other’s weaknesses and plays against them. Nadal, with his power is able to make the ball kick-up with his powerful cross-court forehand. Federer’s backhand is his major strength but he prefers a low ball to be at his most effective. Nadal can achieve a higher ball on clay and therein lays Nadal’s challenge on grass.

It’s useful for online sports betting fans to grasp these differences because they pretty much apply to all players, both women and men, in one way or another. The ball loses 60% of its speed when coming off clay but far less when coming off grass. At the same time, the ball takes more spin from clay and can kick up higher.  Someone like Nadal, however, knows all this and works very hard in that area to compensate. The question is: has he got there yet? If he hasn’t this year, he probably will do in 2009.