Djokovic Taking Heavy Money to Win Wimbledon, Serena Dominating Women’s Money
- The first round of Wimbledon 2019 gets underway Monday, July 1
- Novak Djokovic has won the men’s singles at Wimbledon four times, which includes three of the last five
- The majority of bettors believe Djokovic will defend his Wimbledon title in 2019
The Wimbledon singles qualifiers for both men and women wrapped up on Thursday, and the first round of the tournament will start Monday, July 1.
Since odds for the 2019 tournament opened, the 2018 champion, Novak Djokovic, has been the favorite on the men’s side. The four-time Wimbledon champion has claimed three of the last five titles and the majority of sharp bettors are confident he’ll successfully defend his championship this year.
Wimbledon Men’s Singles Money & Bet Percentages
| Player | Wimbledon Odds | Money % | Bet % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Novak Djokovic | +124 | 59% | 14.7% |
| Roger Federer | +280 | 22% | 15% |
| Rafael Nadal | +675 | 8.5% | 13.3% |
*All odds taken June 28
As you see from the table above, more bets have been placed on eight-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer. But the real money is firmly on Djokovic, as he’s taken a whopping 59% of the total money wagered.
This explains why his average Wimbledon odds have shortened from +250 at opening to +150.
One sportsbook’s Tennis Consultant, DJ Fields, stated, “This is the biggest consensus we have seen for a tennis major this year. Nadal commands respect on clay, but it doesn’t compare to the action we are seeing on Djokovic. We knew the public would be all over ‘The Joker’, but the action is so one-sided here it has us scratching our head a bit.”
The fact that Rafael Nadal, now winner of 12 of the last 15 French Opens, didn’t even see this much of the money for the 2019 French Open makes Djokovic’s 59% all the more baffling.
The sportsbook has also reported some respected money coming in on Alexander Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas.
The women’s side also has a clear favorite based on the money, but it’s not as drastic as the men’s side.
Wimbledon Women’s Singles Money & Bet Percentages
| Player | Wimbledon Odds | Money % | Bet % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ashleigh Barty | +550 | 16.4% | N/A |
| Serena Williams | +720 | 35.4% | 12.3% |
| Petra Kvitova | +1200 | 15.9% | N/A |
Serena Williams, a seven-time Wimbledon champion, is garnering a hefty 35.4% of the total money bet on the ladies, in spite of not winning the event since 2016 and no major wins since the 2017 Australian Open.
Her 12.3% of the total bets made is also a high among the women.
Fields said, “the public is going to bet Serena regardless of what price you put up, so the opening line is often lower than what the true odds would be in anticipation of the deluge of recreational money that evidently comes in.”
This is evident by her +350 opening odds to win Wimbledon this year. Her odds had lengthened to an average of +580 three days ago, and she’s now being offered at +720.
Let this be a lesson to you: don’t bet Serena Williams when odds open; wait until closer to the tournament when the value starts to present itself.
After working in TV, Matt turned his focus towards numbers, specifically odds. He has been with us since 2016 and serves as SBD's Editor-in-Chief, credited with creating our futures trackers, SBD's score predictor, SBD Sharp, and his own model for calculating NFL SOS, among other products.
