Day 2 of Wimbledon will see Andy Murray take to the court at SW19 and the Brit faces Nikolay Davydenko
Wimbledon is off and running and Britain’s number one and sole hope Andy Murray (10/1 Wimbledon outright) on Tuesday begins what looks set to be a tough journey ahead of him.
The Scot, who is still in the hunt for that elusive first Grand Slam title, has been struggling for form of late and much of that has been down to his recent back injury.
Murray hit back at critics who claimed he was over exaggerating the problem and the 25-year-old has claimed he had to go through no less than eight injections in the area during the French Open.
Having reached the quarter-finals of the competition in Roland Garros, Murray has shown he has the capability to go far at the All England Club once again but first he must get past Nikolay Davydenko in the opening round (Davydenko 8/1, Murray 1/20 Match Betting).
The Russian should prove to be a tricky opponent and Murray would be wise to not underestimate the former world number three.
But if the back injury does not cause the British hope too much discomfort, then he should come through this first round tie without too many problems.
Current French Open champion Rafael Nadal is certainly in form at the moment and once again he will be a main contender for the SW19 tournament.
The Spaniard is going in search of his 12th Grand Slam title and his third Wimbledon crown, having won the tournament back in 2008 and 2010.
Nadal’s first opponent is the Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci and the South American faces a massive test if he is to overcome one of the competition’s favourites (Bellucci 16/1, Nadal 1/100 Match Betting).
It’s hard to see Nadal even dropping a set and expect the 26-year-old to lay down a marker to his rivals with a comprehensive win on Tuesday.
One of the outsiders to claim his first Wimbledon crown is the Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (28/1 Wimbledon outright) and he must first get past the former champion Leyton Hewitt if he is to progress to the latter stages.
Tsonga is a big physical presence and his power will be hard for Hewitt to handle, as the Australian hopes to get his career back on track.
Hewitt has recently undergone radical surgery to resolve a toe problem and the metal plate in the area is hoped to take the pain away during the player’s serve, which has been a problem for him.
The 2002 Wimbledon champ could well spring a surprise against Tsonga, who has not been at the top of his game in recent weeks, after a relatively poor showing at the Aegon Championships (Tsonga 1/10, Hewitt 11/2 Match Betting).
However if the 27-year-old can reproduce the form that nearly saw him beat Novak Djokovic at the French Open, then Tsonga should dent Hewitt’s hopes of a comeback and the likelihood is that he will.
