2015 Wimbledon Tennis Championships
Ladies’ Singles Championship
Monday, June 29-Saturday, July 11, 2015
All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club
Wimbledon, England, United Kingdom
Playing Surface: Grass
Defending Champion: Petra Kvitova
All Odds Courtesy of 5Dimes Sportsbooks
Wimbledon is arguably the most prestigious of the four majors in tennis. The traditions of players wearing white, the majesty of Centre Court, and fans eating strawberries and cream in the stands certainly add to the history and prestige. This year on the Ladies’ side, history could occur as Serena Williams looks to win her second career so called Serena Slam after accomplishing the feat in 2002 and 2003. With a win, Serena would hold all four major titles at the same time. Although it would not be an official slam as it didn’t happen in the same calendar year. Still it will be historic if it happens.
Let’s take a look at Serena’s odds to make history along with some of the other contenders. I have included odds courtesy of 5Dimes Sportsbooks to win both the tournament and advance to the semifinals, i.e. win their section of the bracket.
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Serena Williams (+170 tournament, -275 section)
Williams is 33 and will be 34 in September. She is 32-1 this season with titles at the Australian Open, Miami, and the French Open. Serena joined Margaret Court and Steffi Graf as the only players in history with 20 or more Grand Slam titles. Williams battled a really bad flu from the third round on at Roland Garros and couldn’t even get out of bed on off days. She hasn’t played since the French to rest up after the illness.
Serena is looking for her sixth Wimbledon title but first since 2012. She is the #1 seed. Seeded players in her section of the draw include #32 Caroline Garcia, #19 Sara Errani, #16 Venus Williams, #23 Victoria Azarenka, #30 Belinda Bencic, #9 Carla Suarez-Navarro and #7 Ana Ivanovic. Notable unseeded players include Daniela Hantuchova, Dominika Cibulkova, Heather Watson, Francesca Schiavone, Roberta Vinci, and Kirsten Flipkens. It is a tough but manageable section of the draw. As always, Serena’s biggest opponent is herself. Sometimes she gets bored and isn’t properly motivated. The chance at a second Serena Slam should be motivation enough. She could face her sister in the fourth round, and either Azarenka or Ivanovic in the quarters. I like Serena to at least make the semifinals and she is of course favored to make history.
Petra Kvitova (+425 tournament, -105 section)
Kvitova is 25 from the Czech Republic. She is 24-7 this season with titles at Madrid and Sydney. Kvitova has won Wimbledon twice including last year. She has never won a slam at any of the other three majors. She lost in the third round at the Australian and the fourth at Roland Garros.
The defending champion is the #2 seed at Wimbledon. Seeded players in her section include #28 Jelena Jankovic, #17 Elina Svitolina, #13 Agnieszka Radwanska, #12 Eugenie Bouchard, #21 Madison Keys, #25 Alize Cornet, and #9 Ekaterina Makarova. Notable unseeded players in the section include Yanina Wickmayer and Laura Robson. Radwanska should be her toughest competition in the section but don’t count out Makarova, Bouchard or Keys. Still Kvitova should advance to the semifinals out of this bracket.
Maria Sharapova (+1000 tournament, +125 section)
Sharapova is 28 from Russia. She is 29-6 this season with titles at Brisbane and Rome and a runner up to Serena at the Australian. She was upset in the round of 16 by Lucie Safarova at the French. Sharapova is a five time major winner and holds the career grand slam. She won Wimbledon in 2004. However, apart from a runner-up here in 2011 to Kvitova, she has been eliminated by the fourth round in every other year since 2007.
Sharapova is the #4 seed at Wimbledon. Seeded players in her section include #29 Irina-Camelia Begu, #25 Flavia Pennetta, #14 Andrea Petkovic, #11 Karolina Pliskova, #22 Samantha Stosur, #27 Barbora Strycova, and #6 Safarova. Notable unseeded players include Irina Falconi, Urszula Radwanska, Sloane Stephens, and Kaia Kanepi. On paper, Safarova should be the toughest competition but Sharapova has flamed out early at Wimbledon recently.
Simona Halep (+1975 tournament, +400 section)
Halep is 23 from Romania. She is 32-8 this season with titles at Shenzhen, Dubai and Indian Wells. She made it to the quarters at the Australian and lost in the second round at Roland Garros. She has never won a major title, but made it to the semifinals at Wimbledon last year and lost in the final at the French to Sharapova last year.
Halep is the #3 seed at Wimbledon. Her section of the draw is by far the most difficult. Seeded players in her section include #5 Caroline Wozniacki, #31 Camila Giorgi, #20 Garbine Murguruza, #10 Angelique Kerber, #15 Timea Bacsinszky, #18 Sabine Lisicki, and #26 Svetlana Kuznetsova. Notable unseeded players include Varvara Lepchenko, Mona Barthel, Julia Goerges, and Christina McHale. Halep is the fourth choice to win the tournament but grass court specialist Lisicki and Kerber have lower odds to win the section. Don’t sleep on a resurgent Wozniacki either or the up and coming Bacsinszky.
Other contenders and their odds include Lisicki (+2000), Kerber (+2000), Azarenka (+2200), Agnieszka Radwanska (+3000), Safarova (+3000), Pliskova (+4000), Wozniacki (+4000), Stephens (+4000), Keys (+5500), Bencic (+5500), Bouchard (+8500), V. Williams (+10000), and Makarova (+10000).
I think Serena makes history and wins beating Kvitova in a dream final sure to garner a lot of ratings.
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