Wimbledon 2018 guide: draw, seeds, predictions, betting odds and live TV details

Eight-time winner Roger Federer will play
in his 20th Championships

In Depth

All of tennis’ big-hitters will head to the grass courts at SW19
and this year is a particularly special tournament for Roger
Federer as he plays his 20th Wimbledon, the BBC reports. 

Top seed Federer, an eight-time winner, is joined in the
men’s singles by Rafael Nadal, Marin Cilic and Alexander Zverev.
Novak Djokovic, seeded 12th, is also in the draw.

Britain’s two-time Wimbledon winner Andy Murray is also expected
to play. Murray is making his comeback from a hip injury and after
practising on the grass on Friday he told Wimbledon.com: “If I feel [on Tuesday] like I do today
I will play.” 

In the ladies’ singles Romania’s Simona Halep is the top
seed and the French Open champion is joined in the draw by
seven-time Wimbledon champion Serena Williams who is seeded
25th.

First-round draw: men’s singles

Top seed Federer starts his title defence with a first-round
clash against Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic while No.2 seed Nadal plays
Dudi Sela of Israel, the BBC reports. 

Stan Wawrinka, a three-time Grand Slam winner, plays sixth
seed Grigor Dimitrov.

British hopes will rest on Kyle Edmund, who plays
Australia’s Alex Bolt, and Murray who will play Frenchman Benoit
Paire on Tuesday if he is fit enough to take part in the
Slam.

Matches to watch (seeds in brackets)

• Roger Federer (1) vs. Dusan Lajovic 
• Marin Cilic (3) vs. Yoshihito Nishioka  
• Dominic Thiem (7) vs. Marcos Baghdatis  
• Kyle Edmund (21) vs. Alex Bolt  
• Tennys Sandgren vs. Novak Djokovic (12) 
• Juan Martin Del Potro (5) vs. Peter Gojowczyk  
• Benoit Paire vs. Andy Murray
• Dudi Sela vs. Rafael Nadal (2)

First-round draw: ladies’ singles

World No.1 Halep starts off against Japan’s Kurumi Nara
while second seed Caroline Wozniacki, the Australian Open champion,
takes on Varvara Lepchenko.

Defending ladies’ champion Garbine Muguruza takes on
Britain’s Naomi Broady and another British hope, 22nd seed Johanna
Konta, faces Natalia Vikhlyantseva.

Serena Williams – who plays against Holland’s Arantxa Rus – is
bidding to become the first mother to win Wimbledon since Evonne
Cawley 28 years ago. 

Petra Kvitova is the early bookies’ favourite to win a third title at the All
England Club. 

Matches to watch (seeds in brackets)

• Simona Halep (1) vs. Kurumi Nara  
• Johanna Konta (22) vs. Natalia Vikhlyantseva  
• Garbine Muguruza (3) vs. Naomi Broady  
• Belinda Bencic vs. Caroline Garcia (6) 
• Karolina Pliskova (7) vs. Harriet Dart 
• Johanna Larsson vs. Venus Williams (9) 
• Donna Vekic vs. Sloane Stephens (4) 
• Elina Svitolina (5) vs. Tatjana Maria  
• Arantxa Rus vs. Serena Williams (25) 
• Varvara Lepchenko vs. Caroline Wozniacki (2)

Wimbledon 2018 guide

How to watch Wimbledon on TV

From 2 to 15 July the BBC will present live coverage of the Championships on
TV, online and on Radio 5 live.

When are the 2018 Wimbledon finals?

The ladies’ singles final is on Saturday 14 July and the
men’s singles final is a day later on Sunday 15 July.

Wimbledon predictions

Vicki Hodges, The Daily Telegraph – Madison Keys: “Analysing
the numbers from the last 15 years we have a player who pretty much
ticks all the boxes. So here goes. Take a bow… Madison Keys. The
23-year-old matches the average age of a Wimbledon champion [when
you take the Williams sisters out of the equatation]. She’s the
10th seed for the tournament [which is in and around the average
ranking of past champions], she’s a right-hander and she’s flying
the stars and stripes of the American flag so surely it’s a
win-win?”

Chitrabhanu Kadalayil, The National – Marin Cilic: “If he can keep it
together and learn from his recent experiences, he will win. His
game is built for grass, as he serves and moves around the court
better than most, but he needs to keep himself injury-free.”

Jon Turner, The National – Roger Federer: “Sometimes it’s
best not to over complicate these things: the favourites are
favourites for a reason, and when it comes to Wimbledon and Roger
Federer, that tag has been justified far more often than not. Don’t
expect that to change this year as Federer secures title number
nine. The Swiss world No.2 is more prepared than any of his rivals,
both in terms of freshness and grass court familiarity, having once
again opted to miss the entire clay court swing.”

Tim Henman, BBC Sport: “I think Roger [Federer] and Rafa
[Nadal] are the clear favourites if they are fit and healthy. In
the next group, you could list a whole host of players. You would
put [Novak] Djokovic there, you could put Milos Raonic if he is
injury-free.”

The Roar – Serena Williams: “Currently ranked
183rd in the world, this would be the lowest ranking she’s held if
she were to salute, 102 places lower than when she won the
Australian Open in 2007 while ranked 81st in the world. The
question is, does she have what it takes? Prediction: Huge call,
but… champion.”

Wimbledon betting odds

Best prices according to Oddschecker (as of 29 June).

To win the men’s singles

• Roger Federer: 7/4 
• Novak Djokovic: 11/2 
• Rafael Nadal: 7/1 
• Marin Cilic: 15/2 
• Nick Kyrgios: 20/1 
• Alexander Zverev: 20/1 
• Juan Martin Del Potro: 20/1 
• Milos Raonic: 25/1 
• Andy Murray: 28/1 
• Dominic Thiem: 50/1 
• Borna Coric: 50/1 
• Grigor Dimitrov: 50/1 
• Kevin Anderson: 50/1

To win the ladies’ singles

• Petra Kvitova: 5/1 
• Serena Williams: 6/1 
• Garbine Muguruza: 8/1 
• Angelique Kerber: 12/1 
• Simona Halep: 16/1 
• Karolina Pliskova: 16/1 
• Madison Keys: 16/1 
• Sloane Stephens: 18/1 
• Maria Sharapova: 22/1 
• Caroline Wozniacki: 25/1 
• Elina Svitolina 28/1 
• Ashleigh Barty: 33/1 
• Johanna Konta: 40/1 
• Venus Williams: 40/1

Wimbledon 2018 seeds

Gentlemen’s singles: the 32 seeds

• 1. Roger Federer 
• 2. Rafael Nadal 
• 3. Marin Cilic 
• 4. Alexander Zverev 
• 5. Juan Martin del Potro 
• 6. Grigor Dimitrov 
• 7. Dominic Thiem 
• 8. Kevin Anderson 
• 9. John Isner 
• 10. David Goffin 
• 11. Sam Querrey 
• 12. Novak Djokovic 
• 13. Milos Raonic 
• 14. Roberto Bautista Agut 
• 15. Diego Schwartzman 
• 16. Nick Kyrgios 
• 17. Borna Coric 
• 18. Lucas Pouille 
• 19. Jack Sock 
• 20. Fabio Fognini 
• 21. Pablo Carreno Busta
• 22. Kyle Edmund 
• 23. Adrian Mannarino 
• 24. Richard Gasquet 
• 25. Kei Nishikori 
• 26. Hyeon Chung 
• 27. Philipp Kohlschreiber 
• 28. Denis Shapovalov 
• 29. Damir Dzumhur 
• 30. Filip Krajinovic 
• 31. Marco Cecchinato 
• 32. Fernando Verdasco

Ladies’ singles: the 32 seeds

• 1. Simona Halep 
• 2. Caroline Wozniacki 
• 3. Garbine Muguruza 
• 4. Sloane Stephens 
• 5. Elina Svitolina 
• 6. Caroline Garcia 
• 7. Karolina Pliskova 
• 8. Petra Kvitova 
• 9. Venus Williams 
• 10. Madison Keys 
• 11. Angelique Kerber 
• 12. Jelena Ostapenko 
• 13. Julia Goerges 
• 14. Daria Kasatkina 
• 15. Elise Mertens 
• 16. Coco Vandeweghe 
• 17. Ashleigh Barty 
• 18. Naomi Osaka 
• 19. Magdalena Rybarikova 
• 20. Kiki Bertens 
• 21. Anastasija Sevastova 
• 22. Johanna Konta 
• 23. Barbora Strycova 
• 24. Maria Sharapova 
• 25. Serena Williams 
• 26. Daria Gavrilova 
• 27. Carla Suarez Navarro 
• 28. Anett Kontaveit 
• 29. Mihaela Buzarnescu 
• 30. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 
• 31. Shuai Zhang
• 32. Agnieszka Radwanska