Pluck your strawberries and whip your cream: it’s Wimbledon time!

With the Big Four making up the top seeds, Andy Murray, Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic have an ostensibly clear path to the semi-finals. Yet with some pretty inconsistent form across the quartet, could the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club be in for a brand new champion?

For the first time in his career Murray heads into Wimbledon as the no. 1 seed. However, though Spreadex has him at an Outright Index spread of 21-24, ahead of both Nadal, at 20-23, and Djokovic, at 19.5-22.5, he is still behind favourite Federer at 26.5-29.5.



The Scot hasn’t had the most productive year, especially considering he is world no. 1; he was out of the 4th round of the Australian Open and lost in the semis of the French Open, being hammered in the final set by Stan Wawrinka. His pre-Wimbledon prep was also farcical, losing in the very 1st round to lucky loser, and world no. 88, Jordan Thompson.

Federer, meanwhile has had a pretty fantastic comeback from injury. He started the season in the strongest way possible, beating Nadal in the final of the Australian Open; and though there have been a few blips here and there, namely in Dubai and Stuttgart, he has won more ATP titles than anyone else this year, adding the Indian Wells Masters, Miami Open and, most recently, the Halle Open to his victory in Oz.

The fact he skipped the clay season also makes him far fresher than his peers, hence why he not only sits atop the Outright Index, but has a fixed odds price of 21/10 to Nadal’s 4/1, Murray’s 17/4 and Djokovic’s 9/2.

Beyond the top seeds Milos Raonic, Marin Cilic and Stan Wawrinka look most likely to cause a disruption. The Canadian Raonic shares a bracket with Federer, but still has a respectable Outright Index spread of 8.5-11.5, while Cilic, who could face Nadal if he gets far enough, is at 8-11. Finally Wawrinka, who tends to mop up Grand Slams when the Big Four fail, is at 7-9 and in the same part of the draw as Murray.