Watson to show some Brit resistance and aid Wimbledon acca
Published:It was not a great opening day for the British women at Wimbledon this year, with Elena Baltacha, Samantha Murray, Johanna Konta and Anne Keothavong all departing, predictably, in the first round.
However, hopes are higher for Heather Watson in her clash with Madison Keys and this match is one of seven included in our Wimbledon accumulator, which pays out at 53/1.
Watson has won all her three previous grass-court encounters with US players, including wins over Melanie Oudin at Wimbledon last year and then over Varvera Lepchenko in her most recent tournament at Eastbourne, where she was beaten by the eventual winner in Elena Vesnina.
There are two other picks that are odds-against, with Kimiko Date-Krumm looking like a stonking bet to beat teenage German Carina Witthoeft.
Virtually 25 years separate the pair age-wise and Date-Krumm’s experience should see her through against an opponent that needed three sets in all of her three qualifiers, with none of the losers positioned above 145 in the WTA rankings.
Arantxa Rus beat Sam Stosur en route to the third round and she is also a big price to beat Olga Puchkova.
Elsewhere, Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor is bracing herself for a first career tournament game on grass and this lack of knowledge of conditions should result in her being dumped out by Irina-Camelia Begu, who took Victoria Azarenka to three sets at the Olympics last year.
Mathilde Johanssson can retain her unbeaten record against Timea Babos, who also arrives on a four-match losing streak, while Magdalena Rybarikova can do the same against Barbora Zahlavova Strycova.
Finally, Jie Zheng took Serena Williams to sudden death in the final set at Wimbledon last year and a performance anywhere close to this quality will see her beyond Caroline Garcia.
Women’s Wimbledon day two selections
Magdalena Rybarikova to beat Barbora Zahlavova Strycova @ 4/9
Irina-Camelia Begu to beat Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor @ 4/9
Jie Zheng to beat Caroline Garcia @ 1/2
Mathilde Johansson to beat Timea Babos @ 4/7
Heather Watson to beat Madison Keys @ 6/5
Kimiko Date Krumm to beat Carina Witthoeft @ 6/5
Arantxa Rus to beat Olga Puchkova @ 5/4
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
