Coric could be young gun to down Djokovic
Croatian is a 150/1 shot for the Wimbledon title but he is strong on grass and appears overpriced
Bettors can be superstitious creatures. Before the French Open last month,
I was walking on Wimbledon Common when I was hit on the back of a leg with a tennis ball travelling at the velocity of a John Isner serve. It had been hurled by a dog owner using a ball-thrower. The lady ran up to me to apologise profusely and then began to tell me the life story of her Cockapoo, who happened to be called Rafa.
So, for the past week, I have been returning to Wimbledon Common daily on the hunt for a Newfoundland named Novak or Roger, the Rhodesian Ridgeback. I have, thus far, been disappointed.
Since 2003, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray are the only men to have held the Wimbledon men’s title, but with injury forcing Murray out of one-on-one action, Father Time seemingly catching up with Federer, and Nadal not featuring in a Wimbledon final since 2011, it is clear to see why Djokovic is 11/8 favourite to win his fifth Wimbledon crown.
The Serbian has already landed the Australian Open this year and reached the semi-finals at Roland Garros, a round further than in the previous two years, which suggests he is the only one of
tennis’s big four still at the peak of his powers.
It is hard to look past him for win purposes and he rates a solid bet.
However, there could be scope for a young gun in the opposite half of the draw to Djokovic to make his way through to the final and my preference is for 22-yearold Croatian Borna Coric.
He has a good grass pedigree, having beaten Federer and Alexander Zverev en route to winning the Halle Open last year, and has played well in the first two grand slams this year. He could be overpriced at 150/1.
The women’s competition looks more open but it might be worth keeping an eye on Belinda Bencic.
After returning from injury, the Swiss performed well here last year, beating sixth seed Carolina Garcia on her way to the fourth round, and she has been in good form in 2019. She could be a good bet at around 28/1.
Cricket World Cup
Defeats in their past two matches have left England facing up to the prospect of potentially exiting the tournament at the group stage.
They now face two must-win games against teams all but assured of a place in the last four.
Having been favourites, England are now 9/2 to win the World Cup and have been usurped at the head of the market by both Australia and India, who are 15/8 joint favourites.
At Edgbaston against India tomorrow, England are slight underdogs at evens, but there are a couple of reasons for thinking that they could bounce back to form.
The first is the hope that Jason Roy, who has 215 runs in his three innings in the competition, will return from injury. He has been sorely missed.
Second, teams who have been forced to play after just two days’ rest have done worse than those with longer rest.
Ten of the 17 teams to play just three days after their previous match have lost and there have been some upsets among those 10, including South Africa losing to Bangladesh, West Indies losing to the same team and England suffering defeat against Sri Lanka.
That suggests India may not quite be at their best after beating West Indies on Thursday and England could benefit.