Sports Blog 04/07/2016: Tennis Preview – Wimbledon 2016 4th Round, Monday 4th July 2016

With the biggest Grand Slam shock in years occurring over the weekend Wimbledon 2016 just got a lot more interesting.

Men’s Singles
The story of the tournament, and perhaps 2016 as a whole, has been Novak Djokovic’s surprise 3rd round exit at the hands of world no. 41 Sam Querrey. It’s not only the worst Wimbledon finish for Djokovic since his 2nd round defeat in 2008, but a result that blow the competition wide open.



Of course the person that arguably benefits from Djokovic’s untimely exit the most is Andy Murray, a player who must be sick of lurking in the Serbian’s shadow. The Scot has looked relatively unruffled in the first 3 rounds, so far failing to drop a set; however he faces a trickier opponent this Monday in the form of Australia’s volatile Nick Kyrgios. Nevertheless Murray is expected to triumph, Spreadex offering a Murray/Kyrgios Match Supremacy spread of 13.5-16.5. More importantly Murray is now favourite to win the competition as a whole, at an Outright Index spread of 36-39 alongside Evens fixed odds.

Just behind Murray in the ‘benefiting from Djokovic’s absence’ stakes is Roger Federer. The Swiss maestro now has his best chance of winning a major title for 3 years, since he took his 17th Wimbledon title back in 2012. Like Murray Federer is yet to drop a set, and shouldn’t be troubled in the 4th round against the unseeded Steve Johnson, Spreadex offering a Match Supremacy of 13.5-16.5. In terms of the Outright Index Federer is a decent way behind Murray, despite having the 2nd best spread, at 26-29, with 7/2 fixed odds.

Beyond the clear frontrunners the tournament could see any number of different quarter- and semi-finalists. Milos Raonic, yet to win a major title, has the 3rd best Outright Index spread of 21.5-24.5 and faces David Goffin (at 6.5-8.5) in the 4th round. Tomas Berdych is at 15.5-18.5, while Kei Nishikori and Bernard Tomic are both at 11-14.

Women’s Singles
While nothing quite as shocking as Djokovic’s exit has happened in the Women’s Singles, there have still been a few notable names leave in ignominy. Petra Kvitova, Timea Bacsinszky and, perhaps most surprisingly, Garbine Muguruza have all already been knocked out, potentially freeing up space for some new faces to reach the latter half of the competition.



Not that any of this has disrupted Serena Williams status as favourite, the defending champion now at an Outright Index spread of 35.5-38.5 with fixed odds of 11/10. Though pushed to 3 sets against Christina McHale in the 2nd round Williams has largely breezed through the competition so far, dropping only 3 games in her 3rd round win over Annika Beck. She faces Svetlana Kuznetsova in the 4th round and our traders aren’t foreseeing any issues to arise for the record-breaker, Spreadex offering a Williams/Kuznetsova Match Supremacy spread of 12-15.

Beyond Williams the field opens up somewhat. Ranked 2nd on Spreadex’s Outright Index is Angelique Kerber, at 17.5-20.5 alongside fixed odds of 17/2. Kerber, who defeated Williams in the Australian Open final back in January, faces Misaki Doi in the 4th round, and sits at a Match Supremacy spread of 9.5-12.5. Just behind Kerber are Madison Keys and Simona Halep, at Outright Index spreads of 16.5-19.5 and 13.5-16.5 respectively. The 2 actually face each other in what is likely the pick of the 4th round ties, with Keys just about having the edge over her Romanian opponent at a Match Supremacy spread of 0-3.

Rounding out the Women’s draw is Agnieszaka Radwanska (at an Outright Index spread of 13.5-16.5), Lucie Safarova (at 12.5-15.5) and Venus Williams (at 12.5-15.5), the latter aiming to reach her first single’s Grand Slam final since she was defeated by her sister at Wimbledon in 2009.

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