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.