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World number 3 Andy Murray has laughed off claims that he is a cheat and that he lack the bottle to win Wimbledon. Murray’s second round opponent Latvian, Ernests Gulbis, accused Murray of faining an injury at last years Queens Club tournament to try and break the Latvians rhythm. ‘In the third set he took a medical time-out when it was 4-4,’ the fact that Murray pulled out of the tournament the very next day doesn’t seem to bother Gulbis and he is convinced that he was duped. ‘Actually he didn’t have nothing, he just broke my rhythm and I wasn’t an experienced enough player to deal with that at the time.’

Murray answered him back by beating giving Gulbis a bit of a tennis lesson winning their  second round tie in straight sets 6-2, 7-5, 6-3. Murray is in great form and goes in to his round three tie against little known Serbian Viktor Troicki expecting an easy win. Despite Murray’s good form most people aren’t looking past Federer to take out his 15th open title especially with Rafael Nadal’s absence (Which the sportsbetblog team predicted weeks before it happened), but we must remember that Murray has beaten Federer six times out of eight and looks to have the measure of him. And as for the question marks over his stamina and his bottle, well we will have to wait and see.  My bet is looking good though so go to sportsbet now to back Murray at $3.75.

One of the great stories of this years Wimbledon has been the apparent return to form of our very own Lleyton Hewitt. Hewitt loves the grass courts of Wimbledon and it looks as though he has chosen the 2009 tournament to play some of his best tennis in years. He brushed aside USA’s Robby Ginepri in round one and also destroyed fifth seed Jaun Martin Del Potro 6-3, 7-5, 7-5 in round two. Hewitt is now hot favourite in his third round tie against Philipp Petzschner, but the bookies still don’t see him having much of a chance at lifting his 2nd Wimbledon title. Sportsbet are paying out $21.00 so if you are feeling patriotic why not have a punt.

In the women’s side of the game Venus Williams is looking great in her quest to claim her third straight Wimbledon title, and she is my tip to do so. Sportsbet are paying out $3.00 and I feel that this is a great price. Venus is just too strong on the grass and even though her sister Serena is the favourite I feel that Venus will win.

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The 2008 Wimbledon final between the Swiss master Roger Federer and Spanish star Rafael Nadal was considered by many as the greatest game of tennis ever played. A five set thriller that saw the the powerful Spaniard knock Federer off the top of world tennis and start a new era in the mens game. But the hope for a 2009 rematch under the new retractable roof on center court has been dealt a blow, with Rafael Nadal reportedly under going intensive treatment on a knee injury that could threaten his defense of the title. Roger Federer will go in to the tournament has hot favourite after winning the French Open for the first time, and if Nadal does miss out it will be hard to look past Federer breaking the Pete Samprass record by winning his 15th open title. So is there anyone out there who can stop the Fed Express in its tracks.

Andy Murray $3.75

Andy Murray was my pick for the French Open but once again his stamina let him down and he was dumped out in the second week by Fernando Gonzalez. Murray is ranked at number 3 in the world after he won at the Queens club tournament last week, which was his third title of the year. He is widely considered to be the most likely to break the top twos strangle hold on mens tennis, but that is only if he can take his form in to the second week at the major tournaments. Fred Perry was the last Brit to win Wimbledon, with this the year of his 100th birthday and Nadal’s injury maybe, just maybe the omens are on Andy’s side. He is my pick again so go to Canbet now to get your free bet on Murray making history.

Robin Soderling $26.00

The Swede will be on a massive high going in to this years Wmbledon championships after shocking the world by beating the clay Court master Rafael Nadal on his way to the French Open final. But if you take in to account that Nadal was carrying an injury and that Federer easily disposed of him in the final the effort suddenly doesn’t look so great. There is no doubt that Soderling played well above himself at Roland Garros, but can he do it again on the faster grass courts of Wimbledon? I seriously doubt it. If you think I am wrong and that Soderling has something else up his sleeve go to canbet now and receive your free bet.

Lleyton Hewitt $151.00

There is no doubt that grass is Hewitt’s favourite surface to play on. He won Wimbledon in 2002 don’t forget and always performs pretty well in the grass court season. There is also no doubt that he always plays with all of his heart and soul, thats why we all love him of course. But is heart enough for Lleyton to climb back to the top of world tennis? As much as I would love to say it is, it probably isn’t. I do predict Hewitt getting in to the second week but anything else is probably beyond him.  So if you want to get behind an Aussie I think that Samantha Stosur would be a better bet, canbet are paying $26.00 for Stosur to cause what would be a massive upset

So lets all hope and pray that Andy Murray stops making me look like a total idiot and finally wins me some money.

The French Open will head in to its second week without defending champion Rafael Nadal after he was dumped out of the competition by 23rd seed Robin Soderling. The three sets to one defeat was the world number ones first ever loss at Roland Garros and easily one of the biggest upsets in tennis history. Nadal’s shock exit also leaves the tournament wide open with a number of contenders looking to take his French Open crown that he has owned for the past four years. Here at sportsbetblog.com.au we will be looking at the most likely winners  for you to place your free bet on  from Sportingbet

Roger Federer $2.10

Roger Federer is now the hot favourite to win his 14th Grand Slam title and understandably so. The Swiss master has looked good so far and with his arch nemesis eliminated as well as dangerous Serb Novak Djokovic it would take a brave man to bet against him.

Andy Murray $4.50

Ther is no doubt that Roger Federer’s air of invincibility has gone in recent years thanks mainlyRafael Nadal’s dominance of  him, proving that Federer is human and therefore beatable. Andy Murray is one of those players that has seized on this confidence and beaten Federer on regualr occasions. Murray is one player with the skills that can break the strangle hold that the top two of Federer and Nadal seem to have on the game. His only down fall so far in his career has been a lack of stamina to play top tennis for two full weeks in a Grand Slam, but he has looked fantastic so far disposing of Mario Cilic, Janko Tipsarevic, Potito Starace and Juan Ignacio Chela in fine style. Get your free bet on the tough Brit, this is his year.

Andy Roddick $67.00

American number 6 seed Andy Roddick has travelled well in the first week. But then again he always does, it is the second week of Grand Slams when he faces up against much tougher opponents that he seems to fall flat on his face. He is definately a good bet to get through is fourth round tie against unpredictable Frenchmen Gael Monflis at $2.22, but I am afraid that winning the tournament is probably beyond him.

The Ladies

Maria Sharapova $26.00

Men all over the world are thanking the tennis gods because Maria Sharapova is back on the court and looking like she could cause an upset. She was un seeded for this years Frech Open after a lengthy spell out of the game through injury, and has been taken to three sets in each of her ties so far because of a tough draw. It would be a dream come back for her, but I would save your free bet from betfair for Dinara Safina at $2.26 you can still make a nice little profit.

Samantha Stosur $85.00

Seeded 30th Aussie Samantha Stosur upset 4th seed Elena Dementieva in the third round, and she did it pretty comfortably winning 6-3 4-6 6-1. We would all love a fellow Aussie to win , and at $85.00 Stosur could just be worth a couple of dollars.

The second tennis grand slam of the of the year is only a few short weeks away with just one question on everybody’s lips, can anyone stop Rafael Nadal? The world number one has totally dominated the clay courts of Roland Garros over the last few years winning the last four consecutive French opens to equal the amazing record set by super cool Swede Bjorn Borg. There is no doubt that the clay court is where the powerful Spaniard is most at home, he has won all 22 of his matches in Paris and 18 of his 23 career titles have been on clay. This year looks like being more of the same from the 23 year old. He has started the season in blistering fashion winning the Australian Open after an epic five set final against Roger Federer , and smashing his way to victories in the Monte Carlo and Rome masters. With this in mind it is no wonder Nadal is the hot favourite to take his fifth straight French Open title at $1.30 and $3.50 not to lose a set. Can anyone really beat the guy?

Roger Federer $9.00

It was only a couple of years ago that Federer himself looked to be unbeatable, stepping around shots to unleash a wicked forehand with unbelievable accuracy. This is still the case against the majority of his opponents, but when he steps on court against Rafael Nadal Federer becomes indecisive and overly cautious. Nadal destroyed Federer in straight sets at last year’s French Open final and after beating the Swiss master on his favourite grass surface at Wimbledon last year there is no doubt that young Rafael has the mental edge.

Novak Djokovic $9.00

Novak Djokovic really hit the world stage when he won his first Grand Slam, the 2008 Australian Open. He looked classy as he cruised to victory with an array of dangerous shots, but since then he has only shown flashes of his true potential. His year so far has been somewhat disappointing after failing to defend his Australian Open title and losing in three Masters Finals two of them on clay against Rafael Nadal. He did win in Dubai earlier in the year, but he will really have to up his game if he is to take out his second career Grand Slam title.

Andy Murray $13.00

Andy Murray started the year off in fantastic form winning the Capitala World Tennis Championship and the Qatar Open beating both Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal along the way. He went in to the Australian Open as the favourite but failed to show any of his early season form and blamed fatigue for his exit against Fernando Verdasco. Murray has spent the year working hard on his fitness with some success; he beat Rafael Nadal in Rotterdam in early February and Novak Djokovic at the Miami Masters. There is no doubt that Murray has the skills to beat anyone on his day making him a great outside bet, but consistency over the two weeks of a Grand Slam tournament is still going to be a major problem.

When talk of tennis turns to Rafael Nadal one of the things that immediately springs to mind is his dominance over the majority of his opponents and in particular Roger Federer. Watching him play it is hard to imagine that any player could dominate this Spanish superstar.

One player who has managed to gain an advantage over Nadal recently is the Argentinian David Nalbandian. In there previous two meetings he has beaten Nadal in straight sets, losing a combined total of just 7 games in those 2 matches – two more dominant displays against Nadal are hard to recall.

So when Nalbandian raced to a 6-3, 5-3 lead at the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, the tennis world was beginning to wonder what voodoo magic was at work to give him an edge over this seemingly indestructible giant of the game.

Then came the fightback.

Despite being down five match points Nadal never lost his self belief. And knowing that he surely had their last two encounters in the back of his mind made this display all the more impressive.

He took the second set in a tiebreak, broke the will of his opponent and stormed home to take the final set without dropping a game.

It is this mental strength that sets Nadal apart from all his contemporaries – especially Federer. The Swiss maestro is perhaps one of the best frontrunners the game has ever see. Give him a sniff of victory and his confidence is displayed in his outrageous shot making ability.

But get him behind the eight-ball as we saw earlier this year in Melbourne and you can almost see the fear of defeat in his eyes as he pulls back on his shot making and steers the ball around the court praying for a mistake from a man who makes few.

And so this tournament is steering its natural course towards another clash between the world’s top ranked men. Other players such as Andy Murray and Juan Del Potro are staking their claims with some impressive tennis but the expectations are for a Nadal, Federer final.

With Federer having had a full month of rest, and Nadal doing it tough with a knee injury, perhaps this is a chance for Federer to regain some confidence ahead of the mid-season majors beginning with the French and followed soon after by Wimbledon.

The women’s side of the tournament has seen almost all the big names sent packing early with Ana Ivanovic and Vera Zvonereva the only two household names left in the tournament.

Most impressive have been the efforts of two players on the rise – 17 yr old Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkov and 19yr old Victoria Azarenka who defeated Dinara Safina, preventing her from joining her brother Marat in as a player who has sat atop the world rankings.

Both titles will be decided over the weekend and should make for some excellent viewing

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