Wimbledon began play Monday with Novak Djokovic and Iga Swiatek drawing lopsided action as heavy favorites to win their respective titles.
Djokovic entered the tournament as the -170 favorite at DraftKings. Matteo Berrettini owned the next-shortest odds at +550, followed by long-time rival Rafael Nadal at +750. Despite his status as the heavy favorite, Djokovic had been backed by 43 percent of the total bets on the men’s winner and 76 percent of the handle.
The story was similar at BetRivers, where Djokovic opened the tournament at -125 ahead of Berrettini at +600 and Nadal at +700. Djokovic had drawn 32.2 percent of the tickets and 58.2 percent of the handle. Nadal had been backed by the second highest share of handle (10.7 percent) and the fourth-most wagers (8.3 percent) at the sportsbook.
Djokovic began his quest for a seventh Wimbledon title by beating South Korean Soon-woo Kwon 6–3, 3–6, 6–3, 6–4 in his opening match Monday. It was the Serbian’s 22nd consecutive win at the All England Club in London.
BetRivers also reported that the biggest potential payout on the men’s side was a $1,000 wager backing Hubert Hurkacz that would pay $21,000. Hurkacz’s odds now sit at +1500.
Swiatek is similarly supported to claim the women’s title.
The Polish world No. 1 opened the tournament at +150 at DraftKings and had drawn 27.1 percent of the bets and 52.2 percent of the handle. Next was Ons Jabeur, who had been backed by 6.8 and 13.0 percent, respectively, at +600.
Serena Williams is a longshot at +1800 but the fan favorite was still being supported by 5.7 percent of the handle, third-most at the sportsbook.
Swiatek was also +150 at BetRivers, where she had drawn 55.5 percent of the tickets and 32.6 percent of the handle. Swiatek was the 2019 Wimbledon champion and entered this year’s event riding a 35-match victory streak.
No other player in the women’s draw had shorter than three-digit odds, with Jabeur offered at +1000 followed by Coco Gauff (+1100), Jelena Ostapenko (+1400) and Simona Halep (+1600).
Williams was third at the sportsbook with 5.1 percent of the bets backing her to win the title and fourth with 6.6 percent of the handle at +2000. That was slightly behind fellow longshot Angelique Kerber, who had drawn 8.3 percent of the handle at +2800 at BetRivers.
