OTW Extra Email Archive - April 2022
Wimbledon early-bird at 40/1...
Friday 22nd April 2022
Good morning. With all that’s been going in the tennis world (and beyond) recently, there’s a player I want to tell you about today. As an early-bird Wimbledon contender at odds of 40/1 or 33/1…
Wimbledon early-bird at 40/1...
Last summer I backed Ons Jabeur for Wimbledon at 40/1. The Tunisian had just won a first WTA title, on grass at Birmingham. Ons went on to give a very good account of herself, reaching the quarter finals at SW19. Along the way, Jabeur beat three Grand Slam champions and two former Wimbledon winners – Iga Swiatek, Garbine Muguruza, and Venus Williams.
As I said of Jabeur, on day one of my members-only Wimbledon coverage last June:
Odds of 40/1 appeal to me here - I was expecting to see her a little shorter, given the wide-open nature of the sport right now ... She reminds me a bit of Marion Bartoli – long-time readers will remember the Frenchwoman winning Wimbledon at rank outsider odds back in 2013. Jabeur possesses a similar blend of power and grace, craft and class.
Since that quarter-final run on the hallowed turf, Ons has become a Top 10 player. She’s still waiting for a second WTA title to come along. But she’s getting close again. After a slow start to 2022 due to injury, Jabeur reached the final at Charleston this month.
Make the most of the circumstances…
The super-talented 27-year-old was already going to be on my shortlist for Wimbledon this year. But in light of recent events, I’m a little surprised that Jabeur’s price hasn’t been chopped yet…
She can be backed at 40/1 and 33/1. Those odds haven’t changed since the start of the season. Yet since January, the then women’s world no.1 – and reigning Wimbledon champion – Ashleigh Barty has announced an early retirement from the sport. Leaving a big hole at the top of the rankings, and also in all of the fields and markets for the 2022 Grand Slams.
With the default favourite gone, that opens up the Wimbledon list – in a climate where the women’s Majors are already producing big-odds finalists almost every time…
For example, there’s been one Grand Slam event so far in 2022, and it was won by Barty – with Danielle Collins a 100/1 runner-up. Last season, the US Open AND the French Open finals were comprised entirely of women that started those events priced at 100/1 or bigger (!). Those four names being Barbora Krejcikova, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Emma Raducanu, and Leylah Fernandez.
Add in this week’s controversial Wimbledon announcement that players from Russia and Belarus will be banned from the 2022 tournament. That instantly rules out last year’s semi-finalist Aryna Sabalenka, along with several others.
With all of that going on, Jabeur at 40/1 & 33/1 Each Way is a name that jumps off the ante-post betting list for me right now.
The Tunisian went played 12 won 10 on grass last season. On the overall pro career stats, Ons’ match win-loss record stands at won 49 lost 16. That’s a super 75% grass-court win ratio that really catches the eye. Let’s get her in the book today.
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Wimbledon 2022 – Women’s
Outright Winner – Each Way (1/2 odds 1-2 places):
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I’ll be back again soon with more big-odds tennis info for you.
Enjoy the tennis…
Best wishes,
Tom Wilson