Serena Williams leads odds to win women’s draw at Wimbledon

OddsSharkJun 28, 2018, 8:42 AM EDT

Serena Williams has a seeding, but scarcely enough court time since her return to tennis to justify being a betting favorite for the world’s biggest tournament.

Having seven Wimbledon singles titles, though, creates a certain benefit of the doubt, so Williams is a +450 favorite on the 2018 Wimbledon odds for the women’s draw at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.

Williams has played in only four tournaments since rejoining the WTA Tour after having her first child late in 2017, which includes retiring during a match at the French Open last month. Until the 25th-seeded Williams reprises her vintage form, it might be best to fade her in pre-tournament futures.

The attention on Williams might help drive up the price on two-time winner Petra Kvitova (+600). The left-hander has a WTA-most five titles this season. A hamstring injury has prevented Kvitova from completing the Eastbourne tournament (the final grass-court tune-up before Wimbledon), so bettors will have to decide whether they can assume the risk of backing a player who’s nursing an injured muscle that will have to hold up during a fortnight of tennis during the height of the British summer.

The Williams sisters are the only players to win the women’s title back-to-back in the last two decades. Defending champion Gabine Muguruza (+800) has shown a spark of late with a semifinal run at the French Open, but has a reputation for inconsistency that makes her a chancy play.

Several of the big names high up on the tennis odds for this event carry red flags. Karolina Pliskova (+900) has never gone past the second round at Wimbledon, while Maria Sharapova (+900) has not had any competitive action on grass this season.

Angelique Kerber (+1000) is two years removed from being a Wimbledon finalist in 2016, but the two-time Grand Slam champion has not had any promising results during the grass-court tournaments that lead up to Wimbledon.

World No. 1 Simona Halep (+1800), coming off of her first Grand Slam title at the French Open, doesn’t play as well on grass as she does on other surfaces, due in part to not being overpowering. However, it’s not often that a top player is also be a darkhorse on the odds to win Wimbledon and having a Slam to her name might do wonders for her confidence.

Head-to-head matchups offer betting value as well, so it bears noting that Daria Kasatkina (+5000) has knocked off nearly every big name on the tour at one point or another this season.

Wimbledon begins at the All England Club on Monday, with the women’s final scheduled for July 14, followed by the men’s final on July 15.

For more odds information, betting picks and a breakdown of this week’s top sports betting news check out the OddsShark podcast with Jon Campbell and Andrew Avery. Subscribe on iTunes or listen to it at OddsShark.libsyn.com.

At French Open, Francisco Cerundolo is mad at chair umpire over Holger Rune’s double-bounce

Associated PressJun 5, 2023, 8:49 PM EDT

Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports

PARIS – Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina was devastated about losing his French Open fourth-round match to Holger Rune of Denmark in a fifth-set tiebreaker Monday. He also was mad at chair umpire Kader Nouni for missing a double-bounce of the ball on a point that was awarded to Rune early in his 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (10-7) victory.

They were tied at a set apiece and on serve at 2-1 for the No. 6-seeded Rune early in the third at Court Suzanne Lenglen when the point of contention happened. Cerundolo, who was serving at deuce, hit a forehand that skidded low at the baseline and quickly bounced a second time – which normally would have meant that the point was his.

But Rune went ahead and got his racket on the ball, sending it back over the net. At about the same time, No. 23 seed Cerundolo was saying “sorry” to apologize for the odd way his forehand made the ball skim across the clay. Nouni was not immediately aware of the double-bounce, thought the ball was still in play and called Cerundolo for hindrance for talking during a point. That meant Rune got the point, and when he won the next one, too, he had a service break.

“It was unbelievable, because it was a clear double-bounce. I was mad at the umpire because he has to see it,” Cerundolo said. “It’s his fault.”

In tennis, electronic line-calling is used at many tournaments to make line calls, but replays are not used to check things like double-bounces or whether a point should be lost because a player touches the net, which is not allowed.

And while Cerundolo put the onus on the official, he also thought Rune could have ceded the point because of the double-bounce.

“For sure, I wish he would have done that, because it was a big moment,” Cerundolo said.

Rune, who moved into a matchup against No. 4 Casper Ruud in the quarterfinals, said he saw a replay after the following point, and “saw it was a double bounce. But the point already happened, and he called the score. So I felt sorry.”

But, Rune added: “This is tennis. This is sports. Some umpires, they make mistakes. Some for me; some for him. That’s life.”

Gael Monfils withdraws from French Open with wrist injury

Associated PressJun 1, 2023, 11:34 AM EDT

Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports

PARIS — A thrilling five-set victory took a toll on Gael Monfils, whose withdrawal from the French Open handed No. 6 Holger Rune a walkover to the third round.

The 36-year-old Frenchman said he has a strained left wrist and can’t continue.

He battled Sebastian Baez for nearly four hours on Court Philippe Chatrier before beating the Argentine 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, 1-6, 7-5 in a first-round match that ended at 12:18 a.m. local time.

The victory was Monfils’ first at tour level this year, as the veteran was coming back from heel surgery.

“Actually, physically, I’m quite fine. But I had the problem with my wrist that I cannot solve,” he said. “The doctor say was not good to play with that type of injury. Yesterday was actually very risky, and then today definitely say I should stop.”

Monfils reached the semifinals at the French Open in 2008 and made it to the quarterfinals on three other occasions.