Wimbledon Womens Singles 2021 Preview
QUARTER ONE
Very competitive quarter with Barty, Vandeweghe, Konta, Sevastova, Krejcikova, Azarenka, Kontaveit, Kasatkina, Ostapenko & Andreescu.
Will these girls beat each other up on their way to the quarter finals?
There’s a good chance they will do.
In the top half of this quarter we have
Barty – Should win if fit, but I’m not convinced shes 100%. She also struggles with expectation when she reaches the business end of a Slam and is too short a price at 9.2 given her tough draw from round 3.
Vandeweghe – Suited to grass courts, looked good qualifying and has made the quarterfinals at this tournament twice in her career.
Konta – Won on the grass two weeks ago in Nottingham but withdrew from Eastbourne last week with a knee injury, this could have been precautionary to save herself for Wimbledon. She is the most likely one to beat Barty in the top half of this quarter. A price of 16 on the quarter 1 winner looks good if shes fit.
Sevastova – Likes this surface and could go on a run to week two. Shes 20 to win the quarter.
Krejcikova – Has all the tools necessary to succeed on the surface, but just hasn’t had the experience. She hasn’t played on grass since 2017 and is overlooked here.
In the bottom half we have
Azarenka – Withdrew last week and is best watched so we can gauge her fitness. If fit she will go close to winning this quarter. Can be backed at 50 on the outright and 12 to win the quarter.
Kontaveit – In good form but blown away by Ostapenko in Eastbourne.
Kasatkina – In good form but blown away by Ostapenko in Eastbourne.
Ostapenko – The form player and she can beat any player on her day, but in the same breath lose to almost anyone when she’s off.
Andreescu – Looks all at sea on the grass and we better wait until hard courts return before backing her.
Overall this quarter will ware out the winner of it and I don’t think the champion is coming from this section. For those that want to take on Barty, I’d go with Konta, Azarenka & Sevastova as potential quarter finalists.
QUARTER TWO
Svitolina heads the top half of this section but has a tough route to round 4 against some decent grass courters in Van Uytvanck, Anisimova then Tsurenko, she made the semi’s last time Wimbledon was held in 2019 but had a very easy route, she won’t be so lucky this time around on her weakest surface.
The player I like in the top half is Muchova, she made the quarter finals here in 2019 and has been playing well since coming back from injury and has no-one to fear in her mini section bar Giorgi and that’s only if the Italian peaks and hits lines for a whole match. We can back Muchova on the outright at 40 and to win the quarter at 10.
In the bottom half we have Bencic, Kerber, Konjuh & Serena. Now, Bencic plays well on the grass but has never done well here apart from winning the junior title years back, I’m willing to bet that changes this year and will back her on the outright at 50, she has shown some good form coming into this event and if she gets her mind right could go on a deep run into week two.
Kerber is best on grass; she has won this event before and is coming into form winning the grass event in Germany last week. She has a very tough draw though and her price of 36 is not appealing enough for me, that said it wouldn’t surprise me if she went deep.
Konjuh may surprise you, I’ve been waiting for her to play on grass for a number of years as she showed up well on the surface before her elbow injury took her out for 2 years. Her game suits the surface and she has made two quarter finals on the grass at main tour level, last time she played Wimbledon she was knocked out in round 4 by the eventual runner up Venus Williams. At a price of 200 she has to be backed.
Now we come to the seven time champion Serena, she still has the game to do well on the grass but given her age and considering the quality of opposition in this section and her recent tendency to mentally fall apart at the back end of slams means I’m leaving her alone at a single figure price.
QUARTER THREE
Pliskova heads up this section and given she hasn’t been past round 4 at Wimbledon ever and considering the form she’s in she is best overlooked. Grass is her best surface yes, and if she puts it all together for two weeks her price of 60 will look very stupid with hindsight. But……when have we ever seen Plis keep it together for a whole match never mind a whole Slam.
Vekic can play well on the surface and could quite easily take Pliskova out in round 2.
Riske is too big a price for a grass courter at 250 on the outright and at 25 to win the quarter. She is 18-7 on grass at main draw level since 2018 winning a title and making 3 quarterfinals.
Kvitova is the most likely winner of this quarter being a two-time champion here but is no value on the outright considering the wacky world of the WTA.
In the bottom half we have Mertens who I don’t like as she’s a mentally weak player who beats up poor players and struggles against the best. Shes what we’d call a flat track bully.
This leaves it wide open for Keys or Kenin to make a run to the quarters in what is possibly the weakest section of the whole draw. Kenin is yet to play on grass this season but is 19-9 lifetime main draw on the surface and has made semi-finals on the grass in recent years. Her left-thigh injury worries me though.
Keys is 26-9 main tour on the grass which is decent, but 48 on the outright seems a little short given shes never really impressed at Wimbledon with one quarter-final in 6 attempts. She also regularly beats herself from winning positions and is a master at self-inflicting misery upon herself and her backers. I can’t touch her even though she has a cupcake draw.
QUARTER FOUR
Swiatek is at the top of quarter 4 but has no grass experience and needs to learn to play on the surface before she can have any title aspirations. She did win Junior Wimbledon in 2018 but the rise in class from juniors to main tour on this surface is immense and she herself says what she does over the next two years on this surface will help her gain the vital experience needed to win a major on the green stuff.
Jabeur & Muguruza are the two to take out of the top of the 4th quarter. Muguruza is a former champion here and her intensity and firepower suit the surface well, but how fit is she? She’s had her left thigh heavily taped most of the season.
Jabeur won her first WTA title on the grass in Birmingham two weeks ago and is coming into this tournament in great form and I can see her making a bold bid for the quarter finals, I’m a backer to win the quarter at 9.0 but will leave her out of my outright selections due to her questionable fitness over a two week tournament.
The top of this section sees Sakkari and her aggressive game should suit the grass but shes 15-11 on the surface lifetime and she had a very tough clay court campaign, that tough she rested up until now. So, she’s coming in cold on the grass and can be overlooked.
Rybakina would be a strong selection but she looked injured when last seen in the Eastbourne semi. Her record on the grass is 11-6 and her game will suit the surface, this is her first appearance at Wimbledon and if she’s fit, she should make it to round 4 where a clash with Sabalenka awaits.
Talking of Sabalenka, the number two seed should go well here but never has, she is a great player with immense power and skill but just can’t seem to put it all together over the course of a two-week tournament. She could go on and win the whole thing but considering how she can suddenly turn into an uncontrollable error machine in matches she offers no value at current prices.
Trade on Sports Wimbledon Recommendations
WTA OUTRIGHT
Muchova 40
Bencic 50
Konjuh 200
Riske 250
WTA QUARTER WINNERS
QUARTER ONE
Dutch Azarenka, Konta & Sevastova at 11, 16 & 20 respectively, to win the quarter at close to 4/1
QUARTER TWO
Muchova 10
QUARTER THREE
Riske 25
QUARTER FOUR
Jabeur 9
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