Wimbledon 2023: Betting Favourites

The third Grand Slam of the year is set to kick off next week with the Wimbledon title up for grabs. All eyes with be on Novak Djokovic as he looks to win a 24 career Grand Slam. The Serbian will be looking to rewrite history and be known greatest men’s tennis player to ever play the game. Let’s take a look at the betting favourites for the 2023 Wimbledon Championships. 

Men’s Favourites

Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic will be aiming to extend his record number of Grand Slams to 24 when the tournament resumes next week. The 36-year-old Serb international has been in incredible form this year, and he is not stopping. Last month, he claimed a French Open title which was Grand Slam number 23 in his glittering career that has spanned nearly two decades. 

That title in France indicated his dominance in the game and is slowly emerging as the greatest player to ever played the game. Djokovic has already won two Grand Slams this year and would be eyeing all four which is the feat he hasn’t achieved in her career. Over the years, Djokovic has produced a wonderful record in All England Club winning seven titles including four in the last four years. It would become relatively hard to dispatch Djokovic on his favourite surface and the World number 2 is the prime favourite to make five titles in a row.

Carlos Alcaraz

One of the emerging players expected to dominate the game is Carlos Alcaraz. The young Spanish tennis star has been seen as Rafael Nadal’s heir due to his strong hitting on the court. The 20-year-old is expected to revive his battle with Novak Djokovic. The pair recently clashed during the French Open semifinals with Djokovic coming on top in that match. 

Alcaraz has already made history becoming the first player in 20 years to be a top seed in Wimbledon besides the traditional top four ( Djokovic, Nadal, Roger Federer and Andy Murray). 

Previously in the tournament, he hasn’t gone past the fourth round which is the feat he achieved last year. This time around, he has improved his game much more and showed a more aggressive side. So risk Alcaraz at your own peril.

Casper Ruud

Despite grabbing much attention with the beautiful tennis display this year, Casper Ruud has fallen short of converting it into winning a Grand Slam. Unlucky? It would be relatively hard to say, the young Norwegian is unlucky as he has faced some opponents that have shown more hungerness than him. 

During the French Open, he lost in the final to Novak Djokovic. Without doing much wrong during the entire match, Ruud had an opponent that possess pure class and was superior on the day on court. All being said, the world number four has not given up on winning a Grand Slam in his young career. If that can arrive during the Wimbledon Open, it would not come as a major shock since the signals have been there.

Daniel Medvedev

Daniel Medvedev will be hoping for much-improved results when stepping inside the Wimbledon Open court next week. The 27-year-old Russian-born star has not gone past the fourth round of the tournament. It is the only Grand Slam that he has a bad record in. Besides an unconvincing record, Medvedev is still among the players expected to pull magnificent performance. 

Known for being a good baseline player, Medvedev is one of the strong competitors on the court and one of the few players on the main draw to have beaten Novak Djokovic. That alone will be a moral boost as many players will be eager to stop Djokovic to continue his dominance. It’s not an easy thing to do but, Medvedev has shown some resilience against top-class players and would want to go further this time around.

Stefanos Tsitsipas

The past few weeks have been hell for Stefanos Tsitsipas. He was outclassed in the French Open quarter-finals by Carlos Alcaraz and then lost to the round of 16 both in Stuttgart Open and German Open. Then in the Mallorca Open earlier this week, he lost World number 48 Yannick Hanfmann in the round of 16 too despite being ranked top seed. 

These results indicate some serious questioning if he would be fit enough to tackle the big boys in the Wimbledon Open next week. Despite ensuring the fans after his Mallorca exit that he would be at his level best in England but he has to do some improvements to his game. The Greek international is one of the talented players but the inconsistency has taken his game into another shape. Can he reclaim his form?

Women’s Favourites

Iga Swiatek

The world number 1 Iga Swiatek enters the main draw as the prime favourite to win the Wimbledon Open. She has already claimed a Grand Slam title with the French Open last month. It was her second Roland Garros in two consecutive years. The 22-year-old exited last year’s Championships in the third round and is yet to demonstrate her strengths consistently on grass. Swiatek has said she expects to be “uncomfortable” on the surface.

Despite not having great success on the Grass court, and a lot of her victories coming from hardcourt and clay, Swiatek will be a huge threat to all her opponents.

Aryna Sabalenka

The world number 2 Sabalenka returns to the Wimbledon Open this year after missing the 2022 edition due to Belarus athletes being banned from the tournament. Sabalenka, who will compete under a neutral flag, was in the spotlight at Roland Garros when her stance on the war was questioned and has since distanced herself from Belarus president Alexander Lukashenko.

In 2021, she reached the finals in the same event and would aim for much-improved results this time around. The 25-year-old hard-hitting player has been in great form this year. Already, she has a grand Slam on her cabinet winning Australian Open in January in Melbourne. Sabalenka has shown she’s got what it takes to beat Swiatek, doing so during Madrid Open to claim the title. Can she continue her wonderful form in England?

Elena Rybakina

Elena Rybakina will head to the French Open with the confidence that she can be as effective on clay as she is on the other two surfaces with her booming serve and groundstrokes after the Kazakh world number six won the Italian Open the past weekend. The reigning Wimbledon champion was claiming her second title this year as she won Indian Wells. The Moscow-born 23-year-old star player is known for her grit attitude on the court, powerful serve and forever willingness to succeed. 

Petra Kvitova

Petra Kvitova has reminded many youngsters that she still has what it takes to compete against the best athletes in the world. She recently claimed German Open without losing a set which was her sixth Grass title and a career 31 overall. Despite winning two Wimbledon titles in her career with the last one coming in 2014, Kvitova has been in a wonderful form this year. She has shown that she is a big game player beating World number 3 Elena Rybakina during the Miami Open. 

She has won 12 of the last 13 matches on the surface. Then last week, she withdrew from Eastbourne Open – the trophy she won last year in order to be in full swing in Wimbledon. With already having two titles this year, Kvitova will be one of the most dangerous players to reign supreme. Can she be able to win a third Wimbledon title? Only time will tell.

Elena Rybakina

The defending Champion Elena Rybakina enters the tournament amongst the favorites to defend the title. Things have been off smooth sailing from her building up to the title defence. She withdraw from French Open last month and was defeated in the second round during the German Open. 

With the last event being Eastbourne, she withdrew as well citing health issues. This year, things have gone in her way in most cases winning the Indian Wells and reaching the finals of the Australian Open and Miami Open. Despite being a hard-to-beat opponent on hardcourt, she remains eager to win again in England.

BET Contributor