Bettors Welcome Back Wimbledon After Year’s Absence

Written By Russ Mitchell on June 25, 2021 - Last Updated on June 29, 2021
wimbleton odds

In 2020, the Kentucky Derby was held in September, The Masters was held in November and Wimbledon wasn’t held at all.

But fans are coming back and the sports calendar is getting back to normal. That means they’ll be serving strawberries and cream at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club again.

Dust off the wicker chairs in the Royal Box.

The Wimbledon main draws begin Monday — that’s only a week later than the grass-court tournament usually starts.

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Watching Wimbledon as you bet

Outer-court matches start at 5 a.m. Iowa time, 7 a.m. on Court 1 and 7:30 a.m. on Centre Court. So you might want to place Wimbledon bets the night before unless you’re an early riser.

Play continues daily with the exception of Wimbledon’s Middle Sunday tradition (July 3 this year). That day is idle unless foul weather causes a rash of postponements in the first week.

The tournament comes to an end July 10-11. The final Saturday features the ladies’ singles final and gentlemen’s doubles final. Look for the ladies’ final to begin at 8 a.m. on Centre Court.

Wimbledon’s final day — Sunday, July 11 — features the gentlemen’s singles final, again at 8 a.m. on Centre Court. The ladies’ doubles final and mixed doubles final are set for either Saturday or Sunday.

ESPN and Tennis Channel have broadcast rights in the US. They’ll put some outer-court matches on their streaming platforms as well.

Christian Cipollini, a sports trader who assists wagers at BetMGM Sportsbook, said all four tennis Grand Slams draw similar amounts of betting traffic. The US Open benefits from a friendly time zone factor.

Mike Korn, a sports analyst in place for betting at PointsBet, agrees:

“The tennis majors obviously attract the most action throughout the tennis season. That being said the US Open and Wimbledon are the two most popular events for American bettors. For obvious reasons, the Australian Open is the biggest tennis event for the Australian side of the business.”

Wimbledon women’s contenders

Romania’s Simona Halep and Japan’s Naomi Osaka would be among the top contenders at Wimbledon. Halep pulled out of the tournament Friday and Osaka is taking some time off to focus on mental health wellness.

“Osaka not playing opens up the field a bit more than it would be if she was playing,” Korn, at PointsBet, said.

Cipollini said Osaka’s absence “really opens up the field.” He said there’s no clear favorite at BetMGM, adding:

“Take it a match at a time, see how the flow of the tournament goes. Maybe someone starts pulling away. (Betting is) a bit more intriguing when it’s anyone’s game.”

Wimbledon announced its seeds Wednesday and made an update Friday. The top five are:

  1. Ashleigh Barty (Australia)
  2. Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus)
  3. Elina Svitolina (Ukraine)
  4. Sofia Kenin (United States)
  5. Bianca Andreescu (Canada)

Americans joining Kenin as seeded players at Wimbledon are:

  • (7) Serena Williams
  • (21) Coco Gauff
  • (23) Jessica Pegula
  • (24) Madison Keys
  • (29) Alison Riske

The legal sportsbooks in Iowa think Serena Williams has the second-best shot at winning Wimbledon. Many have her joining Barty as a co-favorite.

Player — Odds to win WimbledonPointsBet BetMGMDraftKingsWilliam HillFanDuelBetfredBetRivers
Ashleigh Barty (AUS)+600+700+650+600+750+650+650
Serena Williams (USA)+650+600+650+600+750+750+650
Petra Kvitova (CZE)+1000+1400+1200+1000+1400+900+1200
Garbine Muguruza (ESP)+1000+1400+1200+900+1400+1000+1200
Bianca Andreescu (CAN)+1000+2200+2500+1600+1800+1000+2500
Aryna Sabalenka (BLR)+1200+1100+1000+1000+1400+1200+1000
Iga Swiatek (POL)+1200+1400+1200+1100+1400+1200+1200
Coco Gauff (USA)+1600+1800+2000+1400+2100+1800+2000

Men’s contenders

While the women’s field is wide open, Wimbledon odds at the Iowa sports betting apps suggest the most even bet might be Novak Djokovic vs. the field.

He has the Australian Open and Roland Garros in his pocket. Korn said:

“It will be tough to beat Djokovic considering his recent form and after coming off his second career win at Roland Garros. That being said, with Federer having some injury issues as of late, the field is a bit more open for some of the younger guys like Stefanos Tsitsipas, Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev.”

Rafael Nadal, of Spain (ranked No. 3), and Dominic Thiem, of Austria (No. 5), would normally be among the contenders.

Nadal wants to manage his schedule for a longer career. Thiem cut his first-round match short in a Wimbledon tune-up tournament. He withdrew from Wimbledon on Thursday due to a wrist injury.

“Rafa not playing does not really change much — besides making Djokovic an even bigger favorite than he would have been,” Korn said.

The top 5 men are:

  1. Djokovic (Serbia)
  2. Medvedev (Russia)
  3. Tsitsipas (Greece)
  4. Zverev (Germany)
  5. Andrey Rublev (Russia)

Wimbledon gave three American men seeds:

  • (27) Reilly Opelka
  • (28) John Isner
  • (31) Taylor Fritz

Two Canadian men have higher seeds in (10) Denis Shapovalov and (16) Felix Auger-Aliassime.

Player — Odds to win WimbledonBetMGMPointsBetDraftKingsWilliam HilFanDuelBetfredBetRivers
Novak Djokovic (SRB)-125-110-118-120-140-110-118
Daniil Medvedev (RUS)+600+600+600+600+750+600+600
Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE)+800+600+700+600+750+550+700
Roger Federer (SUI)+900+800+1000+900+1400+1000+1000
Matteo Berrettini (ITA)+1100+1400+1200+1000+1400+2000+1200
Alexander Zverev (GER)+1600+1200+1600+1400+1800+1400+1600

The Wimbledon grounds were founded exclusively for croquet in 1869. In 1877, the site held its first “lawn tennis meeting and 22 men entered. They had to bring their own racquet and shoes without heels, according to the Wimbledon website. A club gardener provided the balls. About 200 people showed up for the final.

 

Photo by Thibault Camus / AP
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Russ Mitchell

Russ Mitchell has been covering news and sports in northwest Iowa since 1997, including 11 years as managing editor for one of the most acclaimed community newspapers in the state. He looks forward to keeping readers up to date on the growing sportsbook industry in Iowa.

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