STAR PREVIEW: Wimbledon Day Two

[dropcap]N[/dropcap]ot a bad day two at Wimbledon with Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Petra Kvitova all in action on an expected scorcher of a day.

Temperatures are expected to be around 30 degrees centigrade which could see the introduction of a ‘heat break’ for the players.

Andrew Jarrett, Wimbledon referee, said: “The heat rule allows a 10-minute break between the second and third set when the heat stress index is at or above 30.1 celsius.”

The rule only applies to women because it is comes from the Women’s Tennis Association, while there is no equivalent rule for men.

I made the case for Andy Murray yesterday – he is my ante-post pick at around 11/4 with Star Sports and he starts his attempt to reclaim the title later this afternoon against Mikhail Kukushkin – the last scheduled match on Centre Court.

Kukushkin, world number 58, reached the third round last year where he lost to Rafael Nadal in four sets but shouldn’t really trouble the Murray Mint.

As mentioned yesterday, Murray arrives in top form with a recent fourth title at Queen’s under his belt and a good run at Roland Garros. Kukushkin is in the opposite kind of form. He has lost seven of his last eight matches.

In the Ladies, Petra Kvitova begins her defence of the title and bid to win a third against Dutch world No.108 Kiki Bertens – the first match on Centre Court at 1pm.

Kvitova is 2/7 to win 2-0 which is horribly short in terms of my normal recommendations but it’s really hard to see any other outcome.

Kvitova, seeded 2, should be refreshed. She took two months off from the Tour in March and April due to what she and her team described as ‘mental exhaustion’.

Let’s hope the break at the end of the second set will signal the end of the match rather than a heat break.

RECOMMENDED BETS (scale of 1-50 points)

BACK KVITOVA to win 2-0 for 25 points at around 2/7 with Star Sports

RETURN SINCE START OF WORLD CUP: PROFIT 58.04 POINTS (two Wimbledon ante-post bets outstanding)

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