Though it can often feel like the same people are always at the top – some configuration of Federer/Nadal/Djokovic (and to a lesser extent, Murray) for the Men, Serena Williams for the Women – Wimbledon often throws up a shocker or two.

We here at Spreadex have done some digging and found the competition’s biggest spread betting surprises of the last 5 years!

2014 – Nick Krygios reaches the quarter-finals by beating Rafa Nadal
He may not have capitalised on his promise in the intervening years, but those watching in 2014 may have thought a new tennis star had emerged when wild card Nick Kyrgios beat Rafael Nadal in 4 sets in the 4th round.

Not only did the volatile Aussie become the first man to reach the quarter-finals on his All England Club debut in a decade, he became the lowest ranked player to beat the World No. 1 at a Grand Slam since 1992.

And what did this mean for spread-betters? Well, if you thought Kyrgios had it in him to wrap the match in the 4th set, and bought at a binary spread of 22.2-28.6, you would have picked up 71.4 times your initial stake.


2015 – Dustin Brown dumps Nadal out in the 2nd round
As shown by the previous entry, Nadal hasn’t had the best time of it at Wimbledon this decade. After winning it in 2010, and reaching the final of 2011, he went on a 6 year stint of failing to reach the latter stages of the competition (he was absent in 2016), before making it to the semis in 2018.

While not his most ignominious exit – that honour goes to his 1st round loss in 2013 – 2015’s 2nd round defeat at the hands of then world no. 102 Dustin Brown is certainly up there, the German offing Nadal in 4 sets.

At a teensy 25:0 spread of 2.5-5 – where its 25 points for a win and a big fat 0 for a loss – Brown was barely meant to register on Nadal’s route to the next round. Those brave enough to back him would have netted 20 times their initial stake.


2016 – Novak Djokovic loses to Sam Querrey in the 3rd Round
Heading into Wimbledon 2016, Novak Djokovic was in the form of his life. The previous year he had won 3 out of 4 Grand Slams, including at the All England Club, while in 2016 itself he successfully defended his Aussie Open title before picking up his first ever French Open championship.

The Serbian superstar had little trouble in the first 2 rounds, dispatching of James Ward and Adrian Mannarino in 3 sets each. So it’s an understatement to say it was a shock when he lost the opening set to 28th seed Sam Querrey. Then he lost the 2nd. A 6-3 win in the 3rd looking like Djokovic had shaken off whatever was ailing him, only for Querrey to hold his nerve in the 4th set, surviving a tie-break to secure a momentous victory.

Djokovic was such a dead cert he sat at a to win match binary spread of 95.2-99.7. In contrast, the American went into the tete-a-tete at a pitiful 0.3-4.8. Anyone who picked Querrey before the match would have made a pretty penny, winning 95.2 times your initial stake.


2017 – Women’s Singles Final, Garbine Muguruza vs Venus Williams
It’s always a bit of a punt trying to Name the Finalists at the very start of a competition. In 2017 it was especially difficult, with regular fixture Serena Williams – who had won the last 2 championships – absent due to her pregnancy.

Karolina Pliskova and Petra Kvitova were far and away favourites to face-off at the start of the 2017 edition, with Spreadex offering a Name the Finalists spread of 14.5-17.5.Yet both women suffered shock 2nd round exits, blowing open an already tough to predict tournament.

Eventually Garbine Muguruza and Venus Williams made their way to the Centre Court on Saturday 15th July 2017, the Spaniard’s victory making her the first women to beat both Williams sisters in Grand Slam singles finals. If you’d called that match-up from the start you’d be feeling very smug, with the initial Name the Finalists spread of 3.5-5.5 leading to winnings that were 94.5 times your initial stake.


2018 – Kevin Anderson reaches the Men’s Singles final
In the last few years, the dominance of Murray, Nadal, Federer and Djokovic has started to slip. Admittedly there hasn’t been a men’s final without one of the 4 since 2002. However, it’s no longer a guarantee they will be facing off against each other.

In 2016 Milos Raonic was the first persons since Tomas Berdych in 2010 to break up the group, followed by Marin Cilic 12 months later. Yet the biggest surprise arguably came last year, when South African Kevin Anderson reached only his 2nd ever Grand Slam final.

Now, he did lose to Djokovic, and in straight sets at that. Yet that doesn’t change the fact he was a potentially lucrative choice at the start of the tournament, going from an initial Outright Index spread of 5-7, to a make-up of 40.