Weekend Review: Federer rewards punters with eighth Wimbledon title
Tournament favourite comes though for tennis bettors while layers get their own back at Newmarket
Roger Federer’s record eighth Wimbledon title capped off a costly weekend for the layers with UK punters heavily behind the fan-favourite Swiss.
The 2/9 shot also covered the -5.5 games handicap on his way to the title, hurting firms on the match itself as well as the antepost market where he went off favourite.
“Wimbledon wasn’t a great one for us, sadly,” said Ladbrokes Alex Apati. “Federer had been heavily backed in the weeks leading up to (and throughout) the tournament so his victory was a bad result for us, although Muguruza outright was a good one as far as we’re concerned.
“What was worse was that every favourite won their respective final, and due to the mixed doubles final having a Brit on both sides, that match in particular attracted a lot of interest – so Murray & Hingis winning was a great result for punters – not so great for us.”
The women’s side of the tournament draw was more positive for the layers, with BetVictor calling Johanna Konta’s semi-final defeat “the defining result” and Kindred reporting a strong profit margin on the little backed Muguruza.
“Konta was by far our biggest loser, so overall we had a very good tournament,” added BetVictor’s Charlie McCann.”
Bookies had more luck in the day’s racing, with the 10/11 hotpot Caravaggio finishing out of the picture in the feature race at Newmarket.
“A good day for the racing traders,” said bet365’s Steve Freeth.
Punters got their own back on Sunday, with the well-backed Lewis Hamilton winning the British Grand Prix
“We knew going into the race that a Hamilton win would be bad news for us, with the British Grand Prix being the most popular betting day on the F1 circuit and Hamilton being the most popular selection,” said Apati.
Chris Eubank Jr’s points victory on Saturday night was another popular punt at around 4/5 on Saturday night and cost Ladbrokes “a few quid”.
Finally, firs are looking ahead to one of the most wide open Majors in recent memory, with no-one shorter than 16-1 for the British Open which tees off on Thursday.
“History suggests Birkdale can throw up a bit of a surprise with Ian Baker-Finch champion back in 1991 and it would be no surprise if the layers got another result on the Lancashire coast this weekend,” said McCann.