Queen’s finalist James Blake out on day one at Wimbledon

Runner-up’s early exit puts Andy Murray’s triumph into context

It was with a degree of eggshell treading that we suggested last week that Andy Murray’s victory at Queen’s didn’t significantly boost his chances of winning Wimbledon.

Our feeling was that with Novak Djokovic opting to play in Halle and Andy Roddick and Gael Monfils pulling out with injuries, Murray didn’t beat anybody too noteworthy en route to the trophy.

Posted: June 23rd, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

Roger Federer should easily overcome Andreas Seppi

Click here for the latest Betfair odds on this encounter

Roger Federer kicks off his bid to win his fourth Australian Open in six years against Andreas Seppi and an upset looks very unlikely.

Federer is 1.32 to win in straight sets which is quite generous when you consider that he has won his Australian Open first and second round matches without dropping a set in each of the last seven years.

Seppi has met Federer three times in the past, including in Qatar this year and has never won a set. Three of the last four sets between the duo finished 6-3 in Federer’s favour.

Last year at Melbourne Park, Federer dropped just six games in his first two matches, winning three of the six sets he contested over that period 6-0. Therefore it may be worth a small bet on the Swiss world number two opening the tournament with a 6-0 set [11]. Nine of his Italian opponent’s previous twelve 0-6 losses came against European opposition.

Click here to claim a free £10 bet when opening a Betfair account

Posted: January 19th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment