Wimbledon 2011 - 20/6 - 3/7

[Swooperman]

Nadal/Djorkovic (?) double pays just over evens ?

I cant see Murray winning, but hows Rafa's knee ?

[MickeyPaul]

From what I've seen so far Swoop, no one can match Nadal. I know nothing about tennis but I know what I see - his game is mental (when fit - it was his foot troubling him actually). Murray has definitely improved as a player from what I've seen but I really don't think he's at that level. Not consistently at least. I quite fancy taking Nadal to win the tournament outright.

Can anyone hazard a guess at what Nadal's odds might be if he was to meet Djokovic in the final?

[Ayo_for_Yayo]

Federer can fuck right off.. embarrassing, just embarrassing ...

[edtkh]

If anything, I guess the match yesterday pretty much just confirms the end of an era.

While I had been convinced he would still see off Tsonga, I can't seem to fathom just how regularly he's taking his eye off the ball before the job's actually done. What were once a sporadic lack of concentration in otherwise flawless performances have now come to characterise the very bane of his existence.

Quite simply, he's breaking the wrong sort of records and remaining fairly delusional about the placid state of affairs (a far cry from the modest, unassuming genius on his meteoric ascent when he won his first Wimbledon) with all his excuses. If his defeat to Soderling and Berdych last year marked the first time he failed to make the SF of a Grand Slam in more than 23 attempts (since losing to Kuerten at Roland Garros in 2004) and yesterday marked the first time in 179 attempts he actually lost a match at a Grand Slam after leading 2-0, it's only a matter of time before he contemplates a dismal second round defeat as an "aberration" and something acceptable.

[edtkh]

Kvitova-Sharapova : 2.57 @ Hills

The ladies' semis is pretty much the last decent money-making opportunity at this tournament in my book as, if expected, a Kvitova-Sharapova final would be pretty much a coin-toss.

Kvitova is way overpriced for this one at 5/6 as she clearly is heads and shoulders ahead of Azarenka in terms of her versatility and uncanny ability at unleashing powerful groundstrokes. With the exception of the second set against Pironkova, Kvitova has been as close to being perfect as her potential permits including two outright demolition jobs against players (Wickmayer was a finalist at Birmingham some years back; Vinci won Hertogenbosch just before Wimbledon started) with decent grasscourt pedigrees.

Azarenka, on the other hand, has made much harder work than some of her results would suggest as she tends to engage in long, drawn-out games even on her service holds against mediocre opponents. With due respect, but wins over Rybarikova, Benesova, a spentforce Petrova and as yet inconsistent Paszek is hardly anything to shout about, is it? If anything, I thought it was her shaky and unconvincing performance against a resurgent Hantuchova that sways this one for me - if she had to struggle in the way she did against Hantuchova's seemingly modest style of play, she wouldn't stand a chance against an in-form Kvitova's free-swinging game.

Unsurprisingly, as Kvitova has come of age, so too the h2h reversals between the pair with Kvitova having won their last two meetings in straight sets (including a clash at Wimbledon last year). Kvitova shouldn't be anything more than a 2/5 shot for me.

Sharapova should get this done fairly easily, given the way she's dismantled most of her opponents thus far. I thought Lisicki was fortunate to get away against Li Na and Bartoli as, at points, she looked uncertain and insecure about her ability to actually win those matches. As good a grasscourt player as she is, I just don't see her having the game to trouble Sharapova too much - and if she repeats any signs of nerves as she did in those two matches against seemingly more illustrious opponents, this one will be over in a canter.