Wimbledon Tip: Ladies' Singles Winner

With both Williams sisters ousted, Maria Sharapova finds herself as the overwhelming favourite to claim the top prize. She looked underpriced pre-tournament and that feeling remains after her odds shortened to reflect the high profile casualties. But the 2004 champion has not beaten anybody of real note up to now, and better value lies elsewhere.

The outstanding outsider bet looks to be Tsvetana Pironkova. Eyed up from the outset at ludicrously long odds, she now heads into the quarter-finals as a 22/1 option with Boylesports. When you look at her list of victims, those odds still look far too generous. The first two rounds were negotiated with the total loss of eight games before world number two Vera Zvonareva stood in Pironkova’s way. The Russian was ruthlessly dismissed 6-2 6-3 and barely an eyebrow was raised. Then on Monday, five-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams was sent on her way by the same emphatic scoreline. And this is no flash in the pan - Venus was beaten by exactly the same score in the quarter-finals last year.

The bookies seem unwilling to look past the world number 33 ranking but nobody else in the competition has a better set of results against better opponents. We all could have jumped on the value here sooner, but it’s not too late while Boylesports still offer 22/1 on Pironkova for the title. Stranger things have happened.