Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, and Rafael Nadal have dominated men’s singles tennis for the best part of two decades and are collectively known as the Big Three. Andy Murray is one of the few players to have come close to their success, and the Scotsman is often talked up as part of a Big Four.
Outside of these players, nobody has won Wimbledon since the Australian Lleyton Hewitt took the crown in 2002. There are some players that are getting close to toppling the established hierarchy, though, and the 2021 tournament looks like the prime place for that to happen.
Who are The Main Contenders for Bettors to Stake on?
With the Big Three dominating betting markets in almost every Grand Slam, bettors are constantly trying to find players who could upset the established order and provide fruitful returns. Many people are speculating that this could be the year for someone to do it.
According to the Wimbledon 2021 men’s betting odds, Daniil Medvedev is the second-favourite to win the tournament after Djokovic. The bookies also believe that Stefanos Tsitsipas is in with a strong chance. Both of these players can be found with shorter odds than Federer and Nadal at the time of writing, and this suggests that someone outside of the Big Three could make it to the final.
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Medvedev is, perhaps, the one to watch out for. The Russian is ranked as the world No. 2, and has been since March 2021. He has yet to win a Grand Slam but has made it to two finals in his career. The first was the 2019 US Open, where he lost to Nadal. More recently, he lost in the 2021 Australian Open final against Djokovic. He may regard the fact that he was able to best Djokovic, Nadal, and Dominic Thiem in the same tournament as his greatest achievement to date, though, as he did this on the way to winning the 2020 ATP Finals.
Wimbledon Has Been Dominated by the Big Three Since 2003
Since 2003, Federer has won Wimbledon eight times and has been runner-up on four occasions. It is fair to say that the Swiss player is the king of the grass, but, at 39 years old, he isn’t favoured by the bookies to come out on top this year. Djokovic has won the competition five times, including the previous two events. With the Serbian having just won the Australian Open, he is expected to continue that form when he comes to England in the summer.
Nadal has had the least success of the Big Three at Wimbledon and has only won the contest on two occasions. The Spaniard is better suited to the surface of Rolland Garros, which is why he has earned the nickname, the King of Clay.
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Tennis fans have enjoyed watching the Big Three dominate major tournaments over the last 20 years, but it has made it hard for bettors to predict which outsiders could win. This year looks like the best opportunity to stake on someone outside of the Big Three, with Medvedev seemingly the best option.