Where to watch Wimbledon

BBC One, BBC Two & BBC iPlayer, from 11am Monday

Best bets

Elena Rybakina to win women’s singles
2pts 11-2 BoyleSports, Coral, Ladbrokes

Sloane Stephens to win women’s singles
0.5pt each-way 425-1 Betfair, Paddy Power

Sloane Stephens to win second quarter of draw
1pt 33-1 general

Wimbledon women’s singles outright preview

The title betting for this year’s Wimbledon, which starts on Monday, reminds punters that there is currently still a Big Three in women’s tennis, but it also serves notice that the season’s third Grand Slam tournament is potentially a lot more open than the French Open was.

Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina, the top three players in the world rankings, are expected by the oddsmakers to dominate on the All England Club’s grass courts.

But while world number one Swiatek rubber-stamped her clay-court supremacy in the French Open with her third victory in four years at Roland Garros, the chasing pack have, to some degree, caught up with the Pole on faster courts.

And while it may still be the case that Swiatek remains just about the best operator on hard courts on her day, it may be a different story on grass, which is arguably her weakest surface and the only terrain on which she has yet to win a major singles title.

Top tip

Elena Rybakina to win title 11-2

With players from Russia and Belarus barred from playing in the London Slam last year, a scenario which resulted in no ranking points being awarded to those competing, last year’s grass-court major had the feeling of a quiet, almost silent Wimbledon.

But while the victors had to manage being bereft of ranking points, there was little wrong with their performances.

The 2022 women’s singles produced a new star in Elena Rybakina, ironically a Russia-born performer who, like a number of their players down the years, elected to represent Kazakhstan.

And what a display of tennis Rybakina produced at Wimbledon last year. She turned up in the English capital looking fit as a fiddle with muscles ripped and duly dropped only two sets on the way to lifting the Venus Rosewater Bowl.

It was a scintillating performance and Rybakina has gone on to frank that triumph with a runner-up spot in the Australian Open, victory in Indian Wells, making another final in Miami and winning on clay in Rome.

In a nutshell, she’s on a par with US Open champion Swiatek and Melbourne Park queen Sabalenka on hard courts and it’s possible that she’s ahead of those rivals on grass.

With doubts surrounding Swiatek’s position at the head of the outright market, Sabalenka could  be the biggest threat to Rybakina retaining her crown.

But considering the way she won at Wimbledon last year, when she twice fought back from the loss of the opening set to crush Ajla Tomljanovic in the quarter-finals and Ons Jabeur in the final, it’s well worth taking a chance that Rybakina’s triumph was not just a one-off.

Next best bets

Sloane Stephens to win title 425-1
Sloane Stephens to win second quarter of draw 33-1

It’s surely only a matter of time before Cori “Coco” Gauff clicks at Grand Slam level – she has already made the final of the French Open – while Karolina Muchova’s effort in running Swiatek close in the French Open final recently entitles her to considerable respect on the Wimbledon grass too.

But for a second interest, it could pay to take a chance on sleeping giant Sloane Stephens.

The American is top-class at her best, although it can often be difficult knowing when she’s in the mood to shine. But when she’s up for a title, Stephens can be devastating.

US Open champion in 2017, Stephens also made the French Open final a year later and is a former semi-finalist in the Australian Open. It’s a bit of a mystery, therefore, why the Floridian has never made it past the quarter-finals at Wimbledon.

She has the tools to prosper and it has only been a question of ironing out a few issues in her grass-court game.

But after a decent effort at Roland Garros, where she was pipped by Sabalenka in the last 16, it’s worth taking a punt on the 30-year-old to remind observers that she still has time to win the year’s third major, so she can be backed at generous prices outright and to win her quarter of the draw.

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