tennis | Monday, July 3, 2023 8:13 AM

Monday Tennis Best Bet: WTA Wimbledon, Elina Svitolina vs Venus Williams

Jon Reid

Elina Svitolina vs Venus Williams Best Bet: Monday, July 3rd

Great stuff from Madison Keys who looked great in a strong win over Coco Gauff. As expected, the power she was able to generate kept her holding serve consistently, while Gauff’s second serve and inability to dictate on her forehand wing gave the veteran plenty of chances to find the needed breaks of serve to get the job done.

For Monday, we’re off to Wimbledon! The best tournament in tennis has arrived and we’ll look into the matchup featuring Elina Svitolina and Venus Williams in opening-round action on day one!

In this article:

Elina Svitolina vs Venus Williams Preview
Elina Svitolina vs Venus Williams Best Bet

Elina Svitolina vs Venus Williams Preview

June 3rd, 15:30 (UK Time)

What a matchup for the opening round at Wimbledon. It’s no surprise that this one is getting showcased on Centre Court.

Williams, now 43 is a legend of the sport, while Svitolina spent a long time inside the women’s top 10, winning across surfaces and racking up 17 titles along the way.

Obviously neither is at their best at present (thus, why both needed wild cards to get into the main draw and playing each other was even possible this early), but it’s still a marquee matchup nonetheless.

Svitolina’s return has been rather successful, but her lone match on grass this year didn’t go well. She won just two games against an out-of-form Linda Fruhvirtova, who has had major problems with holding serve.

As for Williams, she had played just one match this year prior to grass season but has been surprisingly competitive on the green stuff. She had a set-and-break lead against Celine Naef, before running out of gas, then shocked Camila Giorgi in three sets, before pushing Jelena Ostapenko in a three-set loss.

With her serve still being potent on the quicker courts, Williams still manages to keep things competitive, even at 43.

Elina Svitolina vs Venus Williams Best Bet

It feels like this price is based solely on Williams not having played much this season and the fact that she’s 43 years old.

With her serve always a threat, the points generally shorter on the quicker surface and a few decent performances against big-hitting, talented players in Ostapenko and Giorgi, I think this pricing is a tad disrespectful.

Svitolina is still coming back from an absence herself, and she looked horrific in her lone tuneup match on grass. Now, it’s important to ensure you don’t bet on Williams solely because of one poor loss by Svitolina, as that was likely more an exception than the rule, but it’s certainly worth taking into consideration.