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Betting - It's Federer and Nadal Part III in Wimbledon Men's Finals
It's Federer and Nadal Part III in Wimbledon Men's Finals
Sunday, July 6, 2008 07:33 AM ET
Venus Williams beat sister Serna for the women's Wimbledon title, and Sunday the men's title matches Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal for the third time.
The betting odds for the Wimbledon finals suggest history will repeat itself on Centre Court.
Roger Federer is a -150 chalk to beat Rafael Nadal (+110) for the third straight year in Sunday’s championship match. Both men breezed through the earlier rounds; Federer has yet to drop a set, while Nadal needed four sets to beat No. 48 Ernests Gulbis in the second round, but is otherwise unscathed.
If Nadal beats Federer this Sunday, there will be a tectonic shift in the tennis world. Federer has been the No. 1 player on the men’s tour since February of 2004. Nadal has been No. 2 since July 2005, after he first beat Federer at the French Open. Their rivalry since then has dominated the men’s draw; however, it’s reached something of a stalemate.
Nadal is without question the top clay-court player in the world – perhaps in the history of the sport. He’s 155-14 on the dirt and 9-1 lifetime against Federer, beating his rival in each of the last three French Open finals. But Federer is the undisputed king of the grass courts. He’s 75-11 on the faster surface and 65-0 over the past five years, winning five consecutive Wimbledon championships – the last two over Nadal.
Tennis fans are getting a bit tired of this act. The buzz is behind Nadal; the Mallorcan native has the “sexier” style of the two players, attacking with zeal and intensity. Federer is a machine by comparison. He intentionally eases off on his serve for maximum efficiency, and he covers the court like a skilled snooker player, mastering every angle and hitting flawless returns. Federer is still very much a fan favorite, but the question on everyone’s mind is whether Nadal can finally put an end to his reign at Wimbledon.
They could get what they want on Sunday. Last year’s final went an epic five sets: 7-6(7), 4-6, 7-6(3), 2-6, 6-2. Nadal has continued to work on his game since then to make it more suited to all surfaces, and Federer is coming off a relatively poor start to the season, winning just two of the 10 tournaments he’s entered thus far. But only one of those was on grass; Federer breezed through his Wimbledon “warm-up” event in Germany last month. Nadal won his warm-up in London, but not without some difficulty. He’ll encounter even more turbulence at Centre Court.
The clash in styles won’t be as pronounced in the women’s draw, where defending and four-time champion Venus Williams meets two-time winner and younger sister Serena Williams on Saturday. This will also be the third time they’ve met in the finals; Serena took the first two meetings in 2002 and 2003, when both sisters were at the top of the tennis world. Five years later, Serena remains the favorite at -130; Venus is even money to defend her championship.
Although Serena has gotten the better of Venus at SW19, a lot has changed in five years. Both players have lost a step to age; worse, Serena has suffered knee and ankle injuries, while Venus has had recurring problems with anemia as well as her wrists. The grass courts at the All England Club are more forgiving for older players; Venus’ powerful serve and long stride have aged gracefully at Wimbledon, where she won last year at age 27.
The larger issue on Saturday is whether time has changed the relationship between the sisters on the court. Their previous encounters were often tentative, with Venus in particular lacking the hunger to beat her younger sister. If their three-set battle in Bangalore this March is any indication, Saturday will be competitive. Serena won that match 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(4) on the hard court. Translating that result to grass tilts things in Venus’ favor; as the underdog, she has the value this time around.