Along with golf, tennis will be one of the more familiar individual sports you can watch (and bet on) in the upcoming Olympic Games. Both the men’s and women’s tournaments kick off this Saturday and two of the biggest names in the sport will be looking to repeat as gold medalists. Unlike 2012, when the tournament was played on Wimbledon’s grass surface, the 2016 tournament will be played on a hardcourt surface.
On the men’s side, Novak Djokovic will be looking to hold off Andy Murray to win his first Olympic gold medal. Djokovic has dominated the men’s tour, winning five majors since the start of 2015, but had a very disappointing showing at Wimbledon last month, falling in the third round. With a career grand slam under his belt, taking home an Olympic gold is on the small list of things he has yet to accomplish – and now is his best chance to do that.
Murray, who won the gold medal at the 2012 Olympics, is coming off his third major victory and looking to add to an already impressive resume. Murray defeated Milos Raonic in straight sets at Wimbledon last month and is in the prime of his career. Murray will not, however, have the home court advantage as he did in 2012 in his home country of Great Britain- which is something to take note of.
Some notable names that will not be playing are: Roger Federer (knee), Milos Raonic (health concerns), Tomas Berdych (health concerns), and Richard Gasquet (back).
Player
Odds (7/31)
Novak DJOKOVIC
10/11
Andy MURRAY
5/2
Stan WAWRINKA
12/1
Rafael NADAL
14/1
Kei NISHIKORI
20/1
Marin CILIC
40/1
Juan Martin del POTRO
50/1
Jo-Wilfried TSONGA
50/1
Gael MONFILS
50/1
David FERRER
80/1
Grigor DIMITROV
100/1
David GOFFIN
100/1
Philipp KOHLSCHREIBER
150/1
Gilles SIMON
150/1
Steve JOHNSON
150/1
Borna CORIC
150/1
Benoit PAIRE
150/1
Jack SOCK
150/1
Roberto BAUTISTA AGUT
200/1
Pablo CUEVAS
200/1
Kyle EDMUND
200/1
Gilles MULLER
200/1
Viktor TROICKI
200/1
Fabio FOGNINI
250/1
Andreas SEPPI
250/1
Guido PELLA
250/1
Yen-Hsun LU
300/1
Thomaz BELLUCCI
300/1
Vasek POSPISIL
300/1
Albert RAMOS-VINOLAS
300/1
John MILLMAN
300/1
Dustin BROWN
300/1
Gastao ELIAS
300/1
Federico DELBONIS
300/1
Thanasi KOKKINAKIS
300/1
Robin HAASE
300/1
Teymuraz GABASHVILI
400/1
Jan-Lennard STRUFF
400/1
Lukas ROSOL
400/1
Nikoloz BASILASHVILI
400/1
Malek JAZIRI
500/1
Damir DZUMHUR
500/1
Joao SOUSA
500/1
Ricardas BERANKIS
500/1
Jordan THOMPSON
500/1
Victor ESTRELLA BURGOS
500/1
Paolo LORENZI
500/1
Denis KUDLA
500/1
Andrey KUZNETSOV
500/1
Brian BAKER
500/1
Illya MARCHENKO
500/1
Dudi SELA
500/1
Juan MONACO
500/1
Jerzy JANOWICZ
500/1
Denis ISTOMAN
500/1
Mirza BASIC
500/1
Evgeny DONSKOY
500/1
Rogerio DUTRA SILVA
500/1
Yuichi SUGITA
500/1
Taro DANIEL
500/1
Andrej MARTIN
500/1
Thomas FABBIANO
500/1
Radu ALBOT
500/1
Darian KING
1000/1
On the women’s side, Serena Williams is hoping to repeat as champion after coming off a dominant performance at Wimbledon. Losing just one set in the entire tournament, Williams finished off Angelique Kerber in the finals to tie Steffi Graf for first with 22 Grand Slam titles in the open era.
Kerber is also having a great season, though. In addition to her second place finish at Wimbledon, she won her first grand slam this January at the Australian Open. She provides some great value at 10/1 compared to Serena’s near even-money payout.
Garbine Muguruza, the third seed in the tournament, has the second best odds at 5/1. Muguruza is coming off a disappointing Wimbledon in which she lost in the second round. However, she beat Serena Williams this year at the French Open to take home her first career major.
Some notable names to withdraw from the women’s tournament include: Simona Halep (health concerns), Victoria Azarenka (pregnancy), and Belinda Bencic (wrist).
Player
Odds (7/31)
Serena WILLIAMS
6/5
Garbine MUGURUZA
5/1
Angelique KERBER
10/1
Petra KVITOVA
12/1
Agnieszka RADWANSKA
16/1
Madison KEYS
20/1
Sloane STEPHENS
50/1
Venus WILLIAMS
50/1
Johanna KONTA
60/1
Dominika CIBULKOVA
60/1
Timea BACSINSZKY
60/1
Ana IVANOVIC
80/1
Carla SUAREZ NAVARRO
80/1
Eugenie BOUCHARD
80/1
Lucie SAFAROVA
80/1
Elina SVITOLINA
100/1
Sara ERRANI
100/1
Caroline WOZNIACKI
100/1
Roberta VINCI
100/1
Andrea PETKOVIC
100/1
Jelena JANKOVIC
100/1
Svetlana KUZNETSOVA
100/1
Anastasia PAVLYUCHENKOVA
100/1
Ekaterina MAKAROVA
125/1
Samantha STOSUR
125/1
Yanina WICKMAYER
125/1
Daria GAVRILOVA
150/1
Alize CORNET
150/1
Daria KASATKINA
150/1
Jelena OSTAPENKO
150/1
Laura SIEGEMUND
150/1
Heather WATSON
150/1
Tsvetana PIRONKOVA
200/1
Annika BECK
200/1
Kristina MLADENOVIC
200/1
Barbora STRYCOVA
200/1
Carolina GARCIA
200/1
Timea BABOS
200/1
Monica PUIG
200/1
Kiki BERTENS
200/1
Monica NICULESCU
200/1
Lesia TSURENKO
200/1
Ana KONJUH
200/1
Shuai PENG
200/1
Irina-Camelia BEGU
200/1
Kirsten FLIPKENS
200/1
Johanna LARSSON
250/1
Misaki DOI
250/1
Karin KNAPP
300/1
Anna Karolina SCHMIEDLOVA
300/1
Danka KOVINIC
300/1
Su-Wei HSIEH
300/1
Shuai ZHANG
300/1
Cagla BUYUKAKCAY
400/1
Nao HIBINO
400/1
Galina VOSKOBOEVA
400/1
Ons JABEUR
400/1
Veronica CEPEDE ROYG
500/1
Qiang WANG
500/1
Teliana PEREIRA
500/1
Stephanie VOGT
500/1
Mariana DUQUE-MARINO
500/1
Magda LINETTE
500/1
Polona HERCOG
500/1
Both tournaments will take place throughout the first week of the Olympics, with the women’s final taking place on Saturday the 13th and the men’s final taking place the following day.
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