Wimbledon begins on Monday at the All-England Club, where Aryna Sabalenka is bidding for her first title–which would be her fourth Grand Slam overall. However, there are plenty of formidable challengers on the women’s side. Elena Rybakina, Coco Gauff, Iga Swiatek, Mirra Andreeva, Madison Keys, and Jessica Pegula are also among the favorites.
Swiatek and Pegula have not yet taken their talents to London, as they will go head-to-head in the Bad Homburg final on Saturday. Will a confidence-boosting week come at the expense of little to no rest heading into the season’s third of four majors? It’s a fine line they are walking–and a question to which we will find out the answer over the next two weeks.
Here are my best bets on the women’s side at Wimbledon.
Iga Swiatek (+1100)
It is true that Swiatek has never won a grass-court title, but that could change in Saturday’s Bad Homburg championship match. Of course, it’s not like she is bad on the surface–she simply isn’t as good on it as she is on clay or even hard courts. At long odds, Swiatek has value that should not be passed up. The Pole was a Wimbledon quarterfinalist in 2023 and it should also be noted that she won the U.S. Open in 2022, so she has won in faster conditions in the past. Swiatek’s draw is relatively difficult, but being on the opposite side from Sabalenka is favorable.
Madison Keys (+2000)
Keys is an all-or-nothing kind of player. The 30-year-old American can lose to almost anyone in any match, but she can also go all the way to the title at any tournament. That mean she is a risky bet when it comes to individual matches for the most part, but on the outright market she has good value at relatively long odds. Keys won the Australian Open earlier this season and her big-hitting game should be even better suited for Wimbledon. The world No. 6 is a two-time quarterfinalist at the All-England Club and she could eventually be a champion…especially if she gets help from an early loss by Sabalenka in a stacked top section of the draw.
Jessica Pegula (+5000)
Especially on the women’s side, a longshot has good value since there are no dominant players right now along the lines of Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz on the men’s side. Babora Krejcikova won Wimbledon in borderline shocking fashion last summer, so there is no reason why an underdog can’t emerge victorious yet again. If so, Pegula seems like a good candidate. She finished runner-up at the U.S. Open in 2024 and has reached six other major quarterfinals–including at Wimbledon in 2023. The 31-year-old American is currently in the Bad Homburg final, so confidence has to be high.
who ya got?
Should IGA returned to ‘FORM’, as was recently demonstrated in her match against Palino kinda look out at Wimbildom—-sorry ’bout the spelling mistakes, the importance is what was said.
Sabalenka
Rybakina
Gauff