Tennis best bets for Wimbledon – Wednesday, July 5th
Wimbledon is the third major of the tennis season and it’s arguably the most prestigious of the four. The All England Club in London, England is one of the most beautiful venues that the sport has to offer, and the exclusive nature of grass-court tennis gives it a different feel than the rest. I’m very much looking forward to the event getting started, as I’m coming off a French Open in which I went up about 16 units with all written plays and picks posted on the Pro Picks page. I’m hoping to continue dishing out winners over the next two weeks, so make sure you keep reading for my tennis best bets for Wednesday, July 5th.
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Nuno Borges vs. Francisco Cerundolo (Scheduled: 6:00 a.m. ET)
Cerundolo is coming off a title run in Eastbourne, so he has now shown that his game translates nicely to grass. That isn’t the most surprising thing in the world considering how much power he possesses from the forehand side. But I do wonder how easily he’ll be able to lock back in and perform at a high level this week. With that said, I like Borges’ chances of winning at least two sets in this match — and I do tend to believe that Cerundolo is on upset watch here.
Cerundolo must be dealing with at least a little fatigue coming into this match. The rain has given him some time to recover from Eastbourne, but he still played four matches last week and the final two went the distance. Now, Cerundolo is matched up against a guy that has a better serve than he does. And that makes a big difference when you’re talking about grass-court tennis.
If Borges just puts his head down and does his job with the ball on his racquet, he should give Cerundolo a run for his money here. Cerundolo is prone to having sloppy service games, so Borges should eventually get his chances to break. Cerundolo is also a guy that can be lousy when he’s off his game. His highs are very high, and his lows are very low, so there’s also a decent chance Borges will be working against a guy that can get in his own way.
Bet: Borges +1.5 Sets (+150)
Mirra Andreeva vs. Xiyu Wang (Scheduled: 9:30 a.m. ET)
I don’t think Wang is extremely likely to win this match, but I do think the odds make this a must-bet spot for her. I’m as high on Andreeva as anyone, as the 16-year-old looks like a future Grand Slam champion. She’s very powerful from all over the court and has a ton of charisma, which is why she’s so easy to root for. But I do think this is a tough matchup for her, and I don’t think she should be such a heavy favorite.
Andreeva was impressive in going through qualifying to get into the main draw, and it really could have gone either way given her inexperience on clay. But how can you ignore the fact that Wang is 5-3 on grass this year, with one of the losses being one in which she gave Maria Sakkari a lot of problems.
Wang also has the ability to really hit with Andreeva, as she can be very aggressive from the baseline — especially with her forehand. And I tend to think that Wang has an advantage when it comes to both serving and experience. That’s crucial at any Grand Slam, but it’s especially big at Wimbledon. It just really wouldn’t be surprising if Wang won this match, so I like her at +130 odds.
Bet: Wang ML (+130)
Rebecca Marino vs. Irina-Camelia Begu (Scheduled: 11:30 a.m. ET)
Marino hasn’t played very well on the grass so far, as she’s just 3-5 on the surface heading into Wimbledon. However, that’s still eight matches of valuable time on court, while Begu hasn’t played a grass-court match all season. Begu also hasn’t played since her lost to Karolina Muchova at the French Open, so she’s going to be very rusty when she steps on court for this one.
Given the lack of matches Begu has played heading into this tournament, I find it hard to lay off Marino at +120 odds. Marino is yet another player with a big serve, which gives her a relatively high floor as far as performance goes on this surface. At the very least, I see this being a match in which Marino takes the first set and then you’re presented with the opportunity to guarantee yourself a profit with a live bet.
Bet: Marino ML (+120)
