After three winners from three bets on day one of Wimbledon - at 5/2, 23/10 and 10/11 - our Andy Schooler offers up his best bets for Tuesday.
Best bet
Dudi Sela (-5.5) to beat Marcel Granollers on game handicap at 4/5
Sela arrives at Wimbledon fresh from a Challenger Tour title in Nottingham so confidence should be flowing. Yes, this is main-tour level now but he’s unlikely to realise it when he plays Granollers.
The Spaniard is a woeful 3-13 this season, while his career grasscourt record is also pretty shoddy at 10-17.
Sela likes a slick surface and his strong volleying skills, honed in a decent doubles career, will be a significant advantage here. I can see him outclassing Granollers in this one – just as he did at January’s Australian Open.
On that occasion – which also came on the back of a Challenger Tour title – Sela won in four sets with the last two won 6-2 6-0. He won by 11 games – a margin which would clearly cover this handicap.
OK, the grass may make things a little tighter but I feel Sela can win this comfortablty enough to land the bet.
Outside chance
Zarina Diyas to win the first set 6-0 v Han Xinyun at 11/1
This is a real punt but there are good reasons to think Zarina Diyas can take the opening set 6-0 against Han Xinyun.
The primary one is their head-to-head record. It’s three wins out of three for Diyas, all in straight sets, with two of the sets won to love. Another two have been won 6-1.
To add to Han’s poor mindset coming in, she’s lost both of her warm-up matches on the surface, her last victory on grass (at any level) coming back in 2012.
Diyas, on the other hand, is in fine fettle. She won the ITF tournament in Manchester and followed that up by defeating the top seed, Oceane Dodin, in Ilkley.
There seems a good chance that Diyas comes out all guns blazing and history suggests her opponent could well struggle in the face of a barrage. 11/1 looks too big.
Also worth considering:
For those who prefer straight match betting, rising Chilean star Christian Garin could have claims at 5/1 against seed Jack Sock.
The American has just one top-50 win on grass and hasn’t played competitively on the surface yet this summer. Garin, on the other hand, has come through three qualifiers last week.
It’s tempting but I’ll stick with the sub-market bet.
Tuesday acca
Zarina Diyas, Karolina Pliskova & Kristina Mladenovic all to win 2-0 at 1.41/1
Monday’s acca delivered at close to 5/2 but there aren’t that many I really fancy in the straight win market on Tuesday’s coupon.
Instead I’m going to get with some of the women’s shorties to do the business in straight sets.
I’ve already outlined why I feel Zarina Diyas should cruise through her first-round match and I’m also backing Pliskova and Mladenovic to do the same.
Pliskova won the title in Eastbourne last week and her impressive serve should be taken to see off Evgeniya Rodina.
As for Mladenovic, a player I’ve already backed in my outright tournament preview, she’s also got all the tools to defeat a woefully out-of-form Pauline Parmentier.
The Canadian won just two games at the aforementioned Southsea event last week and got no more the previous week in Mallorca.
Class should tell in all three matches with the straight-sets treble paying just over 7/5.
Posted at 1835 BST on 03/07/17.