Wimbledon 2015 Betting – Djokovic Heads the Pack

While all four majors on the ATP tour bring excitement for tennis fans (and a nice opportunity to wager), Wimbledon – played on the verdant grass of the All England Club – is the most majestic. This year, the tournament will take place from June 29-July 12 and, unsurprisingly, defending champ and world No. 1 Novak Djokovic enters as the heavy favorite.

The Serbian will be looking to erase the bitter memory of his loss to Stan Wawrinka in the finals of the 2015 French Open – a loss which kept him from attaining the career Grand Slam.

But Nole – who also took home the trophy in 2011 – won’t have an easy route to his third Wimbledon title. Wawrinka, now a two-time major winner, has showed he has the capacity to up his game at just the right time, while Briton Andy Murray is playing solidly and always puts in a heroic effort in front of his countrymen.

And, while Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer don’t strike fear into their opponents the way they once did, both are still capable of beating anyone on any given day.

Let’s take a closer look at the favorites and their odds to win the third major of the season.

Novak Djokovic (6/5): Nole is tennis’ biggest star at the moment, possessing a complete game that can dominate on any surface and the stamina to bring his A-game throughout two-week tournaments. Djokovic was upset in the French Open final by Stan Wawrinka, but he won in Australia back in January and has reached at least the semis at Wimbledon five years running (winning in 2011 and 2014).

Andy Murray (3/1): When Andy Murray plays at Wimbledon, the Scot effectively has home-court advantage. Murray rode tremendous crowd support to a 2013 Wimbledon title, downing Djokovic in the final. He also won the 2012 Olympic gold at the All England Club. Murray is having a solid, if not spectacular, season, claiming three titles (the Bavarian International Tennis Championships, the Madrid Open, and, most recently, a Wimbledon tune-up at the Queen’s Club Championships). He’s as good a bet as any to unseat the “Joker.”

Roger Federer (6/1): While not a Briton by nationality, the All England Club has all but adopted Federer as one of their own. The seven-time winner enjoys the kind of support ordinarily reserved for native sons.

Federer has seen his major results decline over the past few seasons, failing to claim a slam since Wimbledon in 2012. But he reached the final last year, pushing Djokovic to a fifth set, and he showed is still a force to be reckoned with on grass last weekend, taking the Halle Open over Andreas Seppi (7-6 (7-1), 6-4). Like Pete Sampras before him, never count Federer out at the All England Club.

Rafael Nadal (12/1): Nadal’s health has been an issue over the last two seasons and has translated into subpar results.  The Spaniard won in London in 2008 and 2010, but those victories seem like distant memories now. Nadal was dominated by Djokovic on clay (his best surface) at Roland Garros short weeks ago and would come into a grass court match with Nole as a massive underdog. Unless he ups his form and gets a good draw, this doesn’t look like his year.

Stan Wawrinka (14/1): Now with two Grand Slam titles on his resume (the 2014 Australian Open 2014 and the 2015 French Open), Stan Wawrinka is a name we should consider taking more seriously. He remains a relatively long-shot at 14/1 because he has yet to find success on grass – failing to claim a single title on grass and never advancing past the quarterfinals at Wimbledon – but he’s an underrated player that can adapt quickly. This could very well be the year he breaks through at Wimbledon.

The Field:

• Kei Nishikori: 25/1
• Milos Raonic: 25/1
• Tomas Berdych: 25/1
• Jo-Wilfried Tsonga: 33/1
• Marin Cilic: 25/1
• Nick Kyrgios: 40/1
• Bernard Tomic: 100/1
• John Isner: 100/1
• David Ferrer: 125/1
• Feliciano Lopez: 150/1
• Gael Monfils: 150/1
• Fernando Verdasco: 200/1

(Photo credit: Edwin Martinez1 (US Open 2007 205) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0) via Wikimedia Commons.)