Wimbledon will begin with familiar faces anticipated to take home the men’s title and perhaps more intrigue expected for the women’s draw, if sportsbook lines and odds history are to be believed.
Carlos Alcaraz (+120) and Jannik Sinner (+190) are the clear favorites to win the men’s tournament at ESPN BET. Novak Djokovic (+600) is the only other player below +1000 before it drops off to Jack Draper at +1600.
Aryna Sabalenka (+240) leads the women’s field, with past Grand Slam champions Elena Rybakina (+550), Iga Swiatek (+650), Coco Gauff (+750) and Madison Keys (+1200) within striking distance, according to ESPN BET odds.
Alcaraz and Sinner, the top two ranked men’s players in the world and winners of the past six Grand Slam titles, have been unsurprisingly popular with the betting public. DraftKings reports the pair have garnered a combined 82% of all tickets, while FanDuel says they have a combined 78% of the money; in both instances, Alcaraz accounts for a significant portion of the shares, taking 59% of bets and 58% of handle, respectively.
Djokovic and Draper have attracted a fair amount of action in their own right with some big money bettors potentially backing them. Djokovic, the 24-time major champion, has 20% of the handle at DraftKings with just 7% of the wagers, while Draper, playing in his home tournament after achieving a career-high ATP ranking of No. 4, has 21.3% of the money compared to 7.9% of the tickets at BetMGM.
Sabalenka and Gauff, fresh off their showdown in the French Open final, are the clear preferences of the betting public on the women’s side, garnering a combined 58% of the wagers at DraftKings and 74% of the handle at BetMGM. Keys, another potential American champion with an Australian Open win under her belt this year, is also proving popular, with FanDuel reporting 7% of bets and 8% of handle and BetMGM noting 10.5% of handle, all third-most at each book.
All of this said, since Serena Williams’ victory in 2016 as a +160 favorite, the women’s Wimbledon champion has usually been an underdog. Aside from when Ashleigh Barty was the second favorite in 2021 (+650), every eventual winner entered the tournament at +1200 or longer, according to SportsOddsHistory.com.
The past three tournaments have been particularly explosive in this regard, with Rybakina (100-1), Marketa Vondrousova (100-1) and Barbora Krejcikova (125-1) all going off at triple-digit odds.
