Wimbledon 2022 – A Betting Guide
Posted by Harry Kane on Tuesday, March 22, 2022
As a thrilling French Open draws to a conclusion, thoughts are already turning towards the next iteration of the Wimbledon Championships in the UK. This will be the 135th edition of the sport’s oldest Grand Slam, with the first championships having been hosted way back in 1877. In this betting guide, we’ll take a look back at the history of tournament while asking which players are most likely to prevail at SW19.
The History of Wimbledon
The Wimbledon Championships preceded the US Open by four years, which saw its Grand Slam debut in 1881. Then came the French Open ten years later, before the Australian Open was first contested in 1905.
The inaugural tournament commenced on July 9th 1877, with only the Gentlemen’s Singles contested and 22 men paying a single Guinea to enter the championships. After five scheduled days and an additional four due to rain delays, Harrovian rackets player Spender Gore prevailed by beating William Marshall 6-1, 6-2 and 6-4 in 48 minutes.
The formative championships were dominated by the powerful William Renshaw, who won the title on seven occasions as part of 12 major wins overall. Renshaw’s twin brother Ernest also lifted the trophy in 1888, meaning that the brother’s won eight out of nine championships between 1881 and 1889.
British players dominated until 1907, when Australian Norman Brookes became the first overseas star to win at Wimbledon. This coincided with the launch of the Australian Open in 1905, and players from either Australia or New Zealand won the Wimbledon title in six out of eight years prior to the First World War in 1914.
In fact, the 23 tournaments held between 1907 and 1933 saw just a single British winner, with Arthur Gore prevailing twice in 1908 and 1909. The other 21 won tournaments were won by players from Australia, New Zealand, USA and France, as the latter spawned stars like Jean Borotra, Rene Lacoste and Henri Cochet.
The iconic Fred Perry broke this trend, winning three consecutive Wimbledon crowns between 1934 and 1936. However, Perry was the last British male player to win at SW19 during the amateur era, with Andy Murray the next to prevail in 2013 during the Open Era.
The Open Era commenced in 1968, with this signalling tennis’ transition from amateur to professional sport. The first winner during this era was Australian Rod Laver, who beat his countryman Tony Roche in straight sets to win his third of four Wimbledon titles.
The 70s saw a dominant player emerge in the form of Swedish star Bjorn Borg, who won five consecutive titles between 1976 and 1980. To this day, Borg remains the 6th most successful Wimbledon player of all time and fourth during the Open Era, with only Roger Federer, Pete Sampras and Novak Djokovic having reached similar levels of attainment since 1968.
Of course, Federer remains Wimbledon’s most successful player (across all eras), with eight titles between 2003 and 2017, while the aforementioned William Renshaw is second in the all-time list with his seven crowns.
American grass court specialist Sampras earned six Open Era titles between 1993 and 2000, while the Serbian, 20-time Slam winner Djokovic has claimed six triumphs in the decade between 2011 and 2021 (he’ll start this years’ tournament as the defending champion).
As we’ve already touched on, Andy Murray became the first British winner since Fred Perry when he defeated Djokovic in the 2013 final, ending a staggering 77-year hiatus in the process.
Interestingly, the 18 championships contested between 2003 and 2021 have been shared among the so-called “Big Four” players, namely Federer, Djokovic, Murray and 21-time Slam winner Rafa Nadal. Federer and Djokovic have claimed 14 of these titles, with Nadal and Murray winning two apiece.
At this stage of the guide, all that’s left is to list a few fascinating Wimbledon facts, which may shed a little more light on the tournament and its heritage.
Matches Used to go on Indefinitely
: While recent changes in 2018 introduced a fifth set tie-breaker rule to curb marathon matches, individual contests at Wimbledon used to last indefinitely. The longest ever match at Wimbledon occurred in 2010, when big-serving US star John Isner defeated Frenchman Nicolas Mahut over 11 hours and five minutes and during the course of three different days. It’s no wonder that players pushed for an end to this madness!
How Many Balls?
: Balls are refreshed and replaced regularly during Wimbledon matches, typically ever seven to nine games on average. This ensures that they’re in the perfect shape throughout any given contest, but did you know that some 54,250 balls are used during a typical Wimbledon tournament on average? This is a truly incredibly number, while it’s interesting to note that any idle balls are stored in a refrigerated container to help optimise their condition.
Wimbledon is the Only Grass Court Grand Slam
: The are four Grand Slam tennis tournaments in total, but Wimbledon is the only one contested on grass. Conversely, the French Open is the only Slam contested on clay, while both the US and Australian Opens are played in hard court conditions. Playing on grass also requires a particular and defined skillset, which is why players like Borg, Sampras the imperious Federer have dominated at different times.
Wimbledon 2022 Betting Odds
This years’ tournament will commence on Monday, June 27th, before drawing to a close nearly two weeks later on Sunday, July 10th. Prior to this, the official draw will take place on June 24, as the final seeds are determined and the top eight players placed in different sections of the draw.
Interestingly Russian and Belarusian players won’t be lining up at SW19 this year, with officials having banned them due to the ongoing invasion of Ukraine by Russia. This has seen Wimbledon stripped of its ATP and WTA ranking points, but this should distract from the grandeur and anticipation surrounding the 2022 edition. But of the remaining players, who are among the bookmaker’s favourites for the men’s singles?
#1. Novak Djokovic – 10/11
We’ll start with 20-time Slam winner and six-time Wimbledon champion Djokovic, who’s currently priced at an average of 10/11 and the clear favourite to win despite being poised to see his world ranking slip from one to three. This followed his quarter-final defeat to Nadal at Roland Garros, which saw him fail to defend the ranking points earned when winning the French Open in 2021.
However, Djokovic remains a strong performer on grass and has an excellent chance of winning his seventh Wimbledon crown, particularly with new world number one and top Russian player Daniil Medvedev barred from competing in 2022. Similarly, Rafa Nadal has confirmed that he won’t participate in Wimbledon 2022, as he looks to take a break from the circuit following the French Open and commits more time to preparing for the hard-court season from the summer onwards.
#2. Carlos Alcaraz – 7/1
Next up in the 19-year-old teen sensation Carlos Alcaraz, a Spaniard who first burst on to the scene in 2021 and has been compared with his compatriot Nadal. He won his first ATP Tour title at the Plava Laguna Croatia Open in July 2021, before reaching the quarter-finals of the US Open in a breakthrough tournament appearance in September. This year, Alcaraz has earned success at the Rio, Miami and Barcelona Opens, while he subsequently reached the quarter-finals of the French Open having risen to the dizzy heights of sixth in the world.
Blessed with maturity beyond his years and a purposeful, all-court game, he definitely has the tools to fare well on grass, particularly when you consider his volleying ability and use of the drop-shot. He’ll also benefit from having a relatively high seeding, enabling to advance deep into the tournament before he faces a fellow big-hitter. At an average price of 7/1 to win the 2022 Wimbledon Championship, Alcaraz also offers excellent value as an outright bet, despite his youth and lack of experience at SW19.
#3. Matteo Berrettini – 9/1
The third favourite is the Italian world number eight Matteo Berrettini, who has become one of the most consistent performers on the tour and recently reached the Australian Open semi-final in Melbourne. Grass-court specialist Berrettini also had the distinction of reaching the Wimbledon final in 2021, becoming the first ever Italian to achieve this feat and the first since Adriano Panatta to reach any Grand Slam finale since the French Open in 1976.
Typically, Berrettini’s experience and speciality on grass would make him the clear second favourite in this years’ Wimbledon line-up, but the Italian has missed much of the clay court season (including the Masters 1000 events in Miami, Monte-Carlo, Madrid and Rome) having injured his right hand. Berrettini also skipped the French Open to ensure a full recovery, but this means he should arrive at SW19 in excellent condition and at an extremely competitive ante-post price.
The Best Wimbledon Betting Markets
OK, we hear you ask, but what are the best betting markets pertaining to tennis and the Wimbledon Championships? We’ve outlined three of the best and most popular below, while asking what sets them apart in the betting marketplace?
1. Handicap Betting
Handicap betting is a staple of numerous sports wagering markets, with this enabling you to provide a distinct advantage or disadvantage to a player in order to either balance their chances of winning or achieve more favourable odds. Typically, it’s applied to matches where one player is a heavy favourite and significantly better than his opponent, as this creates an opportunity to alter the proposition and establish much better-value odds.
For example, let’s say that Djokovic is facing world number 35 Dan Evans at Wimbledon. The Serb will be the overwhelming favourite here, so you could apply a –3.5 handicap to the defending champion (essentially affording his British opponent a 3.5 games’ head start). This simply means that Djokovic only has to win four games more than Evans across the entire match, enabling you to access improved odds on the Serb without overly compromising your chances of winning.
2. Match Betting
Perhaps the most popular wagering market revolves around match betting, which simply requires you to back the winner of a particular match at Wimbledon. Given the elimination of the draw as a viable option (which is present in some iterations of match betting across other sports), this is an even money bet that delivers a theoretical 50% of your selection being successful.
With an understanding of the sport and the players competing against one another (particularly their record when playing on grass), you can leverage this market to make some informed selections at Wimbledon.
3. Accumulator Betting
Both the men’s and women’s singles at Wimbledon feature 128 players, which means that there are 64 first-round matches and 32 contests scheduled during the second round. This creates the opportunity for accumulator (or acca) betting. An acca bet will comprise a number of selections within a single wager, with the odds of each outcome multiplied to create a single, extended price.
You then need every single selection to come in for the wager to be successful, so being selective in your choices is key here. Acca betting can definitely create some increased odds and potentially higher returns, while it’s particularly effective during the formative stages of the tournament when matches are much easier to predict.
Our Wimbledon Betting Tips – The Key Considerations
While understanding these markets is key, this means little unless you know how to leverage them to your advantage. So, we’re going to close this guide with some expert betting tips to help you make the most of your wagers during the Wimbledon tournament.
1. Use Form and Knowledge to Inform Your Handicap Bets
: Don’t just go by the odds when placing handicap bets, as knowledge pertaining to each player’s form and their level of historic performance on grass. More specifically, this can let you know whether a particular match is likely to be keenly contested or one-sided, enabling you determine whether a handicap bet offers excellent value based on real data and the prevailing conditions. This also enables you to select the right handicap and strike the ideal balance between risk and potential reward.
2. Don’t Forget About In-Play Betting
: Individual match betting is a popular ante-post and in-play market, with the latter particularly viable in instances where you’re watching the game. Whether you’re streaming the option or watching on cable television, in-play betting enables you make inform bets based on live developments and momentum, while potentially capitalising on superior odds when a short price favourite loses the first set.
3. Limit Your Number of Acca Selections
: It’s important to strike a balance between risk and reward with acca bets, and we’d recommend limiting your acca bet to no more than six selections. Similarly, try to prioritise selections with short price favourites, as this enables you to build a viable and extended price without overly compromising your chances of each outcome being successful. This way, you can use acca betting successfully and with the optimal results.