Murray beats Italian in a thriller
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Brit into week two at Wimbledon
Andy Murray battled his way past Italian opponent Fabio Fognini on Friday evening to ensure he was involved in week two at Wimbledon. The third-round match was no walk in the park for the Brit however, Murray eventually coming out on top following a slog lasting two hours 39 minutes.
The defending champion had to roll up his sleeves to get the desired result, but answered his critics in the process, and is now into the last 16. Will it be two in-a-row for the passionate Scot? Click here for the latest betting odds from SW19.
Murray eased following stern test
With daylight fading fast, Murray finally scraped through, winning 6-2, 4-6, 6-1, 7-5 against the plucky Italian. With confidence behind 29th seed Fognini, his opponent rallied, winning five games on the bounce to progress. Expected to win a bit more convincingly, Coral’s team have eased their price on Murray to lift the title, shifting from 5/1 out to 11/2. That’s sure to attract the attention of patriotic punters.
The 30-year-old now faces Frenchman Benoit Paire in round four, a match penned in for Monday. Despite pushing him out in the outright market, our traders are keeping Muzza close in the early rounds, chalking him up as a red-hot favourite, 1/10 the current call.
Surprisingly, 3-0 Murray in the set betting is 4/6, while followers who expect another battle can have 4/1 on over 4.5 in the total number of sets market. Fancy Murray 3-2 in the set betting? We’ll give you 6/1, and that’s difficult to ignore.
Trader’s take on Andy’s chances
We caught up with Coral tennis trader Al Davies at Stratford HQ, getting his opinion on Murray’s chances this year, and the thinking behind the current Wimbledon outright market.
“Friday’s match will be a concern for Andy and his team. He wouldn’t have expected to go the distance so early in the competition, and Fognini caused him no end of problems. A step up in class from earlier matches against Bublik and Brown, and boy did it show.
“As Murray’s price suggests, we don’t fancy his chances this year, and that’s not been the case in the past, usually looking to keep him close. His three main rivals seem to be performing at a higher level right now. We feel Federer and Nadal are worthy favourites, based on what we’ve seen so far.”
Konta to go all the way
Fans of British tennis had another reason to cheer at the weekend, with Johanna Konta smashing Maria Sakkari to get her name in the fourth round, which rates as a personal best for the 26-year-old. She passed her Greek opponent with minimal fuss, strolling to a 6-4, 6-1 result. Konta is now a convincing jolly, priced at 4/1, ahead of Kerber, Vandeweghe and Venus Williams, all 9/1 at the time of writing.
She’s back out on Monday against Caroline Garcia, a French rep seeded 21. That shouldn’t prove the end, according to Coral’s odds compilers, who have her as a 4/11 pick to keep going, against Garcia’s 9/4. Konta told the press on Friday she finds the support of British fans humbling, and plans to be involved until the very end.
