2018 Wimbledon Men's Final - Novak Djokovic vs Kevin Anderson
Sunday night starting approximately 10:45pm AEST
After a wild fortnight, we are finally at the 2018 Wimbledon Men’s Final. After lots of controversy both on the court (and around the roof) we have two players coming off incredibly long Semi-Finals.
I think with every passing game in the Isner/Anderson match, the odds for the winner to win the title started to creep out, as the match drained more and more out of the bodies of both competitors. Alas, a freakish left-handed forehand after falling mid-point was a turning point to reach 24-24 in the fifth set, and 0/30 on the serve of Isner, to which Anderson went on to break, and serve out the match to reach his second Grand Slam final within 12 months (US Open Final 2017). It is nice to see a player go on from beating the tournament favourite with Anderson defeating Federer, and backing it up in the Semi-Final against Isner. His confidence is sky high, and it will need to be against Novak Djokovic on the biggest stage.
Whilst Anderson’s odds for the title blew out a touch the longer his match progressed further into the fifth set, his chances improved significantly as Djokovic and Nadal went for two days and five sets as well, with the Serbian saluting in another classic encounter. He has been playing incredibly well, and you can tell mentally he is far more switched on than he was at the start of the year. That mentality is there, and you could argue there was a moment against Edmund down a set with the crowd against him that flicked a switch, and he has been pretty ruthless since.
I think the bookmakers have the odds on the men’s final absolutely spot on. As a result, I won’t be making a play on the match purely for the sake of making a play. I think it will be a very interesting final, with a perfect mix of big serving and stroke play. Anderson’s verbal self-encouragement has rattled some opponents in the past, but I don’t see it being an issue for Djokovic. There is the potential for Anderson to take a set, possibly two, but he will need to serve so well against one of the best returns of serve in the game. Throw in fatigue, and there are too many variables for me to feel comfortable involving myself financially.
If I had to make a prediction, it’s Djokovic to win in four sets.
Too many variables to recommend a betting play
