Tennis Betting: 2021 Wimbledon Women’s Preview

The 2021 women’s Wimbledon tournament is upon us. Everyone wants to know if Serena Williams can win major title No. 24, which would tie Margaret Court for the most all-time. Court’s 24 titles weren’t won entirely within the Open Era of professional tennis, a distinction some people are quick to point out, but there is no denying that winning No. 24 would be powerful, symbolic, and resonant for so many different reasons. 

Favorites

Serena Williams turns 40 years old this September. She is getting older, and much like Roger Federer, there is real doubt about her ability to still bring her A-game to a huge tournament. However, Serena only has to play best of three sets, whereas Federer has to play best of five. Serena also isn’t coming off knee surgeries the way Federer is. Serena doesn’t have to deal with a Goliath-like figure in women’s tennis. There are a lot of really good players in this tournament, but there are no giants.

Top-seeded Ashleigh Barty might be a favorite for Wimbledon, but there are real questions about her health. She suffered an injury before and during the French Open. She hasn’t played any grass warm-up matches, which is not a good indicator of her health heading into this event. She is a very strong grass-court player, but she doesn’t seem to be in top physical condition.

Aryna Sabalenka is the No. 2 seed, but she has never gotten past the fourth round of a major. She has the talent to win big titles, but gets nervous and distracted when matches aren’t going her way.

Elina Svitolina is the No. 3 seed, but she has never reached a major final. She certainly has a chance but is hard to trust at major tournaments.

Petra Kvitova has won Wimbledon twice, but she hasn’t been to the final of this tournament in seven years (2014).

Garbine Muguruza won this tournament in 2017 but has also been dealing with injuries. Victoria Azarenka is a leading contender, but she had to pull out of her most recent grass warm-up tournament, which is not a good sign.

So many talented players exist, but questions about their form or their health pervade the landscape before the tournament begins. There is no one clear favorite. The French Open provided a completely unexpected set of results, with Barbora Krejcikova beating Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the final. We could have a similarly random final between players no one is valuing very highly at the start of Wimbledon.

Longshots

The idea that there are longshots really doesn’t fit the same way it normally does. As noted above, a lot of really good women’s players could win this tournament, but there are doubts about health and fitness. Therefore, would it be a huge surprise if, for instance, Azarenka wins? Not really. Someone will catch fire and win seven matches; it’s simply hard to know which one.

Players we didn’t mention above in the favorites section have realistic chances of going all the way: Karolina Muchova, Maria Sakkari, Elise Mertens, Ons Jabeur, Coco Gauff, Jelena Ostapenko, Coco Vandeweghe, Angelique Kerber. So many players have a chance. The hard part lies is being able to identify the true threats and separate them from the pretenders. Everyone looks like a possible contender; picking the player or players who will get on a roll is the tricky – and some might say impossible – task as Wimbledon begins.