Bert’s Horseracing Blog

Outside of racing there’s only one sport I consider myself capable of commenting on, and that’s tennis.  I grew up in Wimbledon and I used to be pretty obsessed with the tennis when it came around - I’d get my programme early and fill in all the matches as the tournament went on.  There was a time when I thought Wimbledon was easy betting fare as the nature of grass court tennis wasn’t properly understood - I don’t think that’s true any more.

I had my first bet yesterday on Henman - I’d be sweating it out today, but fortunately he won the first set (as he so often does) and I decided to square off my book.  I guess it’s pretty random who’ll win now, but I favour Henman as he’s always been quick out of the blocks and he’ll have huge support.

My one bet for today is to oppose Nadal, who has a very tricky first round against Mardy Fish.   Fish is a quality player, but he’s had a moderate year by his standards and is just outside the seedings.  He’s always been decent at Wimbledon, and he reminds me a little of his coach, Todd Martin, who did so well at SW19.  Centre Court is still looking very green and slippery - it’s a tricky surface to play on.  I remember watching Borg play Victor Amaya one year when it was like this underfoot - he just scraped home in five, but it was a close call.  Borg played a similar grass game to Nadal.  I’ll have a small bet on Fish and lay Nadal to win 3-0.