From a personal perspective, I can definitely say that this year's women's event at Wimbledon is a tournament that I've looked forward to for a number of weeks, and after an excellent French Open where we had 11 consecutive winners, this wide open tournament can offer plenty of potential for future profits.
Having said this, as mentioned in today's ATP preview, the first round is a time to be circumspect, and with so many young players with plenty of upside in the draw, shock results should be expected.
Young-guns with chances of progress today
Some of these young players with huge potential are in action today, and include Natalia Vikhlyantseva, who faces Donna Vekic, and Marketa Vondrousova, who takes on Shuai Peng. Grass samples for both prospects are limited, but their numbers on hard courts indicate that they should perform well on grass, and it wouldn't surprise me at all if these two make a big impact on the WTA Tour in the not too distant future. Both players were made value by my model today.
Lisicki value in one of today's matches of the day
Matches of the day include Sabine Lisicki, who as a former finalist looks a little generously priced at 2.34 against Ana Konjuh, while Elise Mertens, another prospect with potential, can give Venus Williams a hard time.
The American veteran, who may have other issues on her mind with the current news reports, looks a bit short at 1.43.
Another match where the neutral should see a good spectacle is our outright selection to win quarter three, Ash Barty, against Elina Svitolina. The young Australian is 1.72 to get past Svitolina, who has top-ten ability but a poor track record on grass.
However, I want to focus on two different matches for today's recommendations - Katerina Siniakova who faces Maria Sakkari, and Beatriz Haddad Maia, against Laura Robson.
Siniakova too good for fitness doubt Sakkari
In the former, it's fair to suggest that Siniakova has not got the best record on grass but her defeats on the surface have mostly been as an underdog, and she also made the quarter-finals of the Birmingham Premier event in 2015, as a 19-year-old.
The Czech is 1.55 to get past the Greek, Sakkari, today, and my model made this value. We also have the extra benefit, which I didn't make any adjustment for, that Sakkari is unlikely to be fully fit following her retirement in her last match, against Alison Van Uytvanck, in the Ilkley ITF event.
With Siniakova never having won a grass match by fewer than four games, taking her at -3.5 games at 1.90 seems a solid option.
Haddad Maia a default selection against woeful Robson
Finally, my selection of Haddad Maia is much less a ringing endorsement of her ability on grass but more my willingness to take on the Brit, Robson, who has shown no level whatsoever since her long-term injuries.
I'm sure that Robson will enjoy plenty of home support today, but it's highly questionable as to whether that can lift her level to that which saw her memorably reach the last 16 here as a 19-year-old in 2013.
Indeed, the days where Robson was a top 30 player are now long gone, and in the last two years on the main tour, she is 1-11, holding serve just 57.1% of the time, and breaking opponents a woeful 21.5%.
This data shows Robson isn't even top 200 level, and the improving Haddad Maia, whose two defeats in warm-up events were very creditable indeed - a tight three-setter against Mona Barthel, and a narrow loss to Shelby Rogers - looks a class above here, and more so than the 1.50 price indicates.
With such poor return data, Robson is unlikely to break Haddad Maia frequently, and thus the -3.5 game line on the Brazilian can be chanced at a tempting 1.89. As with the men's selections, I recommend a half-stake for the first-round matches.
Recommended Bets
Back Katerina Siniakova -3.5 games at 1.90
Back Beatriz Haddad Maia -3.5 games at 1.89
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