The Overrule: Wimbledon First Round

By Sports Magician

Every four years the stars align and I get to sit on a couch for two weeks and watch match after match at Wimbledon, and match after match at the World Cup. The only thing that could make it better was if Kim Kardashian and Bianca Beauchamp were feeding me grapes. Roger Federer begins the action on Centre Court, as the defending champion, but it’s away from the show courts that our attention lies for first round match betting purposes. As ever on the Overrule, we will be only using bookmakers who void any and all retirements.

Teimuraz Gabashvili had his longest run at a Grand Slam during the French Open and he should overcome Ramon Delgado on the opening day of the tournament. Evgeny Korolev and Yaroslava Shvedova are both Russians playing under a Kazakhstan flag and they will expect to see off Eduardo Schwank and Polona Hercog respectively. Last week we picked Sorana Cirstea to upset Francesca Schiavone and Vera Dushevina can do exactly the same. On her day the Russian is a top 30 calibre player and is better suited to grass than the Italian French Open champion.

Ekaterina Makarova won Eastbourne as a qualifier last week in stunning fashion without even losing a set! However, she has been overrated in her match-up with Agnes Szavay. Justine Henin has been put on court 12 for her return to Wimbledon and although it is one of the bigger outside courts and will be televised, I find it hard to comprehend how the organisers couldn’t find a way to put her on a show court. Although given some of the many pathetic decisions Wimbledon have made with their scheduling over the years, perhaps I should stop expecting them to adhere to common sense. Anastasija Sevastova is a player on the rise and although Henin might be able to use her experience and status to intimidate the Latvian into producing a ‘rabbit in the headlights’ type performance, the youngster is overpriced to cause what would be an opening day shock.

Alison Riske beat Yanina Wickmayer in Birmingham a couple of weeks back and there is no reason why she can’t do so again. Wickmayer had surgery before the French Open but rushed back to play at Roland Garros and is clearly not at her best right now. Wickmayer was slaughtered by Kim Clijsters at Eastbourne and her confidence is anything but high at present. Julia Goerges can shock former Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli and is at least a point or two overpriced to do so.

Tuesday’s action sees man mountain John Isner in action against Nicolas Mahut. The American is our selection to come out of the fourth quarter of the draw and he faces the man who won an epic against Alex Bogdanovic in the qualifiers. Mahut ensured that we would not get a chance to see Bogdanovic lose in the first round of Wimbledon for the 184th time, followed by a press conference in which he is mercilessly torn apart and is forced to question whether there is any point in him waking up in the morning.

Nicolas Almagro and Sybille Bammer have both been made underdogs in match-ups that are 50/50 at worst and we will be happy to back both against Andreas Seppi and Roberta Vinci respectively.

MONDAY FIRST ROUND SELECTIONS:

PICK: 3*TEIMURAZ GABASHVILI BEAT RAMON DELGADO @ 1.67 (BOYLESPORTS)

PICK: 3*(DOUBLE) EVGENY KOROLEV BEAT EDUARDO SCHWANK (1.40) & YAROSLAVA SHVEDOVA BEAT POLONA HERCOG (1.40) @ 1.96 (BOYLESPORTS)

PICK: 2*VERA DUSHEVINA BEAT FRANCESCA SCHIAVONE @ 2.80 (BOYLESPORTS)

PICK: 2*AGNES SZAVAY BEAT EKATERINA MAKAROVA @ 2.75 (BET 365)

PICK: 0.5*ANASTASIJA SEVASTOVA BEAT JUSTINE HENIN @ 13.00 (VC BET)

PICK: 1*ALISON RISKE BEAT YANINA WICKMAYER @ 3.25 (BET 365)

PICK: 1*JULIA GOERGES BEAT MARION BARTOLI @ 5.00 (BET 365 / VC BET)

TUESDAY FIRST ROUND SELECTIONS:

PICK: 3*JOHN ISNER BEAT NICOLAS MAHUT @ 1.73 (VC BET / PADDY POWER)

PICK: 2*NICOLAS ALMAGRO BEAT ANDREAS SEPPI @ 2.10 (VC BET)

PICK: 2*SYBILLE BAMMER BEAT ROBERTA VINCI @ 2.20 (VC BET)

Sports Magician