Wimbledon 2016: Five ladies’ singles tips from day one
Published:
Jamie Clark, Sports Editor | June 25, 2016
2016 Wimbledon ladies’ singles
- First round (bottom half)
- Monday, June 27th
- Scheduled on court: 10:00 BST
- All England Club, Wimbledon, southwest London
- Live across the BBC
Wimbledon women take to courts for grass Grand Slam
While we’ll have to wait and see Serena Williams begin the defence of her Wimbledon ladies’ singles title and she is the firm 11/8 favourite with Coral to do so, there’s still several top WTA pros in action on the first day of the championships.
French Open champion Garbine Muguruza (5/1 second-favourite) begins her bid to go one better than runner-up at the All England Club last year. Serena’s sister Venus still pulls in crowds, while Romanian racket star Simona Halep (25/1) will also be take to the SW19 courts.
Angelique Kerber (also 25/1), the shock Australian Open winner, is seeded fourth, and it is with her that our tennis tipsters start as among the best value bets on Wimbledon women this Monday…
Kerber to come through Robson rumble in three
While top German pro Kerber disappointed at Roland Garros after maiden Grand Slam success in Melbourne, she meets home hope Laura Robson in round one of the grass Major.
Robson, who has eliminated Kerber at this stage of Wimbledon five years ago, has struggled for form since returning from a lengthy lay-off.
Given wildcard entry to the All England Club’s flagship event, Robson may be able to take a set off Kerber with home support behind here, so a superb 7/2 price on a three-set win for the seed is appealing.
Bertens to beat Ostapenko
Having reached the French Open semi-finals, punters will be surprised to learn the Netherlands’ Kiki Bertens, seeded 26th, is an outsider to win her opening Wimbledon assignment against Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia.
The confidence Dutchwoman Bertens will have got from making some real progress to the business end of a Grand Slam means she is well worth a wager at 5/4 to defeat her Easter European opponent.
Although losing their only meeting on clay last year, Bertens has got better since then and has vastly more big match experience than the 19-year-old up against her.
Safarova to take Sands opening set 6-3
While Czech Republic number two Lucie Safarova has slipped down the WTA rankings and seedings, she may be on a dangerously low rating now and has won two of her three career meetings with initial Wimbledon 2016 opponent Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the USA.
In both of those victorious battles, Safarova struck in the first set and won it each time 6-3. At 9/2 to record that precise result in the opener again, the Czech is a most appealing punt.
Cornet clash with Hercog to go the distance
Unseeded duo Alize Cornet and Polona Hercog have completed three previous head-to-heads, and the form of their last encounter with the former Frenchwoman beating the latter from Slovenia in three sets.
Cornet and Hercog are among those who could steal the show on the opening day of Wimbledon 2016, and the 6/5 on there being over 2.5 sets makes perfect sense.
Gasparyan to grab Allertova encounter in straight sets
Although Russian star Maria Sharapova is missing from tennis following a failed drugs test, there are a wealth of her compatriots still involved in Wimbledon.
Margarita Gasparyan is one of those and takes on Denis Allertova of the Czech Republic first. Having defeated her in straight sets last year in their only meeting to date, Gasparyan is a nifty 9/4 to repeat that 2-0 success on clay in SW19.
Related
You’ll find comprehensive coverage of both the Wimbledon men’s and ladies’ singles throughout the championships on the Coral tennis page.
