We're set to begin Wimbledon on Monday with the best players in the world converging on the All England Club over the next two weeks to aim for the most prestigious prize in tennis.
We should be treated to some wonderful matchups right off the bat, and I've picked out two of the early ones which should offer some value in a couple of different ways.
Here are my expert Wimbledon betting picks for Bolt – Ruud and Garin – Shang.
Match times are subject to change. Read here for advice on viewing Wimbledon matches.
Expert Wimbledon Betting Picks
Casper Ruud (-285) vs Alex Bolt (+225)
6 a.m. ET
With heavy topspin on both his forehand and backhand, Casper Ruud has never possessed a game for grass. In fact, he's gone out of his way to avoid the surface over the past two years, opting to skip the two weeks of grass leading up to Wimbledon in an effort to essentially get some rest for the second half of the season given he's not expecting much on the turf.
That puts him in a prickly position on Monday against big lefty Alex Bolt, who has had the benefit of playing plenty on the grass thanks to his roots in Australia. The Aussie can pack a big punch with his serve and has played a stunning 20 matches on the surface this year, losing just twice. Even though a ton of those came at very lowest level of the sport in the ITFs, you can't put a price on familiarity with grass given very few players are able to gain a wealth of experience here.
Ruud, meanwhile, has won just two matches ever in four trips to the All England Club — one of which was against the aging Albert Ramos-Vinolas a couple of seasons back. We can't expect much out of him here as a result, and an upset is surely in the stars against a player who's built a ton of confidence over the last month and took out Leandro Riedi in the final round of qualifying here to earn what was a somewhat quality win.
Bolt's a hard man to break, and he should win at least a set here, so the game spread is a wise idea.
Pick: Bolt +3.5 games (+105 via DraftKings)
Christian Garin (-115) vs Jerry Shang (-110)
6 a.m. ET
If you've been following the lines over the past few days, you'll know that Shang initially entered as the favorite here before some significant action pushed Garin out as far as -120 on the moneyline. I think those who took the Chilean were correct to do so, and I'll follow suit by calling him to win this match.
Garin was brought up on the dirt, doing much of his winning there, but he's long possessed the tools to excel on all surfaces. He can keep the ball low and flat off of both wings and serves big enough to get some free points on these quick surfaces, and those areas of his game helped him to the Wimbledon quarterfinals two years ago.
The World No. 111 will return after missing last year's event due to injury in hopes of matching that run. He's looked great coming through qualifying, and he sure did look great two years ago at the All England Club in beating Jenson Brooksby and Alex De Minaur before putting forth an excellent performance against eventual finalist Nick Kyrgios.
Garin's now working on a third winning season on the grass and with more experience on the surface — and at this level — I like him to knock off one of my favorite players to watch on tour in Jerry Shang. The lefty made a decent run through qualifying last week to reach the Eastbourne quarters, but he requires tuning on this surface and could do with some more training at the age of 19 to achieve the fitness required to compete in best-of-five.
Back Garin to win and make a charge back towards the world's top 100.
Pick: Garin ML (-115)
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