Wimbledon - Marathon Monday

By Nishant Joshi

Without a doubt, today will be the best day of tennis we see this year. High quality matches all around the shop, all packed into one day - if you were planning on pulling a sickie for an England quarter-final, try pushing it forward and enjoy some strawberries and cream in the sun!

In the ladies' event, we have the prospect of an eagerly awaited match between Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin, which will be their first Grand Slam meeting in four years. Maria Sharapova faces Serena Williams in a match which should have its fair share of grunting! For betting purposes, only one WTA match interests me, and that's Kaia Kanepi vs Klara Zakopalova. Kanepi has reached this stage without dropping a set, but I couldn't help but be astonished by Zakopalova in her last round against Flavia Pennetta. She dominated the rallies against a quality player and hit winners from all over the court. If she puts in a repeat performance then there is little doubt that she will destroy Kanepi - obviously this is easier said than done! She is certainly worth an interest at 3.0.

Onto the mens', and we have some juicy matches in prospect. Roger Federer has looked distinctly pedestrian so far and is really struggling for the same aura which he carried at Wimbledon not too long ago. Remarkably, he has never faced Jurgen Melzer, but the Austrian can seriously trouble him. He's in the form of his life and could push Fed all the way.

Andy Murray faces Sam Querrey, the winner of the pre-Wimbledon Queens Club event. Murray has yet to drop a set to the lanky American in three matches to date, and the Scot will no doubt be boosted by England's demise in the football, in the sense that as long as he is in the competition, 'English' fans will now class themselves as specifically 'British' fans. 3-0 is the way to go, considering Murray has previously taken big servers like Querrey to school - once Murray gets a decent return in play, he is overwhelming favourite to win most points.

Rafael Nadal faces Paul-Henri Mathieu, against whom he holds a whopping 9:0 record! Nadal has only lost 3 sets against the Frenchman, but the two are in contrasting form. Nadal has struggled past Phillipp Petzschner and Robin Haase in five sets, with medical time-outs for a knee injury. Mathieu is a typically volatile Frenchman and it's tough to ever rely on him with full confidence, but he is full of beans at the moment, having dispatched of three tough opponents, including a final set comeback from 3-0 down against Mikhail Youzhny. He is hitting the ball beautifully, and exactly the type of player who Rafa struggles against on hard court and grass. The Frenchman could certainly take Nadal to five sets.

Arguably the most intriguing mens' match of the day is between Djokovic and Hewitt. The Australian goes into the match in awesome form but I expect it could be another long match for both players. I suspect that Hewitt might win at odds-against but it's hard to put forward an overwhelming case for backing those odds given how volatile it should be. Back over 41.5 games and enjoy the match!

NJ's Bets:

Zakopalova to beat Kanepi - 2.25pts @ 2.98 (Betfair)

Murray to beat Querrey 3-0 - 2.5pts @ 2.4 (Betfair)

Federer/Melzer over 34.5 games - 2pts @ 1.83 (Sky Bet)

Federer/Melzer 5 sets - 3pts @ 6.5 (Sky Bet)

Nadal/Mathieu tie-break 'yes' - 2pts @ 2.1 (Sky Bet)

Nadal/Mathieu 5 sets - 3pts @ 6.5 (William Hill)

Nadal and Federer matches to both go 5 sets (double) - 1pt @ 40.00 (Sky Bet)

Djokovic/Hewitt over 41.5 games - 3pts @ 1.8 (Sky Bet)

Nishant Joshi