So, we near the time of ear when All England asks: What are the hopes of a British winner at Wimbledon this year? And, of course, the answer would normally be none but this year could just be different. Really? Who? Not Tim Henman, surely Andy Murray is too young and Greg Rusedski couldn’t win a Seniors event let alone a Grand Slam. No, he’s called Novak Djokovic, the rising star and World No. 63, is rumoured to have applied for British citizenship. He has played down this factor but did cryptically admit, “The people [The LTA] were very kind to us after the Davis Cup. "We spoke to them. Nothing serious really. We didn't have any serious conversation about a passport." This does strongly suggest that passports were brought up whether ‘serious’ or not it does make interesting reading.
Betting on tennis is traditionally the preserve of the big players who pick off long odds-on shots but before us small players get excited about taking a decent price about a British winner from bookmakers who have not factored in the potential defection of Mr Djokovic. There is one enormous barrier. Roger Federer. He is surely untouchable for a few years yet on any fast serface and however quickly the Home Office can move they cannot take Federer out of the equation sadly so no British winner this year again.
Oh, and do beware of taking long odds-on about players that look certainties to beat nobodies in the early rounds of the competition, it really doesn’t pay!
We hope this helps but visit TheSportsman.com or read the paper, out every day for more tips and hints.
