Tsonga and not Murray has most to gain from Nadal’s Wimbledon exit
Published:Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is the big value in the Wimbledon betting at 12/1 now that Rafael Nadal has been sent crashing out in the second round by world number 100 Lukas Rosol.
Nadal was well fancied to add to his French Open crown earlier this month and his chances were seemingly boosted by being positioned in the same half of the draw as Andy Murray, who he has beaten in their last four Grand Slam encounters.
The last time Nadal was beaten at such an early stage of a Grand Slam was at Wimbledon in 2005 when he suffered a second-round defeat to Gilles Muller and the whole of the bottom half of the draw has now opened up.
Murray has now shortened to 11/2 in the Wimbledon odds as the highest seed in the section, but he still faces a tough draw even without Nadal.
The Brit is no banker to reach the last four, with Marcos Baghdatis up next and then Wimbledon dark horses Milos Raonic and Juan Martin del Potro probable opponents before the semi finals.
Meanwhile, Tsonga is the big gainer from Nadal’s immediate section and appears to have a far simpler passage than Murray to the semi finals.
Mardy Fish is the next biggest seed, but he is clearly still working his way up to his best after missing the entirety of the clay-court season with a heart condition.
The only other seed in this quarter is Germany’s Philipp Kohlscreiber, but the biggest threat to Tsonga reaching the last four may come from the up-and-coming David Goffin.
If Tsonga is to win then he may have to end a run of four straight defeats to Murray, which includes a quarter-final Wimbledon defeat to the Brit in 2010.
Novak Djokovic is now the 1/1 favourite to win Wimbledon, with Roger Federer 11/4 to claim a seventh title at SW19 that would also see him return to the top of the world rankings.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
