Early Tennis Betting Odds: Wimbledon

Rafael Nadal won his seventh French Open title this week, preventing Novak Djokovic from completing a non-calendar year Grand Slam, and the online bookmakers are now speculating that the two mean will dominate the rest of this year's tennis proceedings.

Spanish sensation Nadal successfully defended his title, defeating Serb Djokovic in four sets despite a rain delay which postponed the end of the match from Sunday to Monday. With his win, Nadal surpassed Bjorn Borg's record of six French open titles and tied Pete Sampras' Wimbledon record for most title wins at one major tournament.

Russian Maria Sharapova defeated Italian Sara Errani in straight sets in the women's final, winning her first ever French title and completing the set of all four grand slam victories. Sharapova also overtook Belorussian Victoria Azarenka to reclaim the number one WTA ranking for the first time since 2008.

The 2012 Wimbledon Championships will take place at their traditional home in London for the 126 time this year, running from June 25 to July 8. In addition to men's and ladies' singles, there are plenty of other betting options in the form of men's doubles, ladies' doubles, mixed doubles and juniors events.

We recommend placing a wager early if you already have an inkling who you think will win the tournament. The warm-up tourneys like the UNICEP Open in the Netherlands and AEGON International at Eastbourne provide good indicators of form, and top online sportsbooks William Hill, bet365 and 888sports offer attractive promos for early birds.

William Hill Online is quoting 5/4 on the two men meeting at the Wimbledon final and 10/11 on them meeting at the US Open final. They have installed Djokovic as 7/4 Wimbledon title favourite with two weeks till the tournament begins, ahead of Nadal, 2/1, Roger Federer, 4/1, Andy Murray, 6/1, and Juan Martin del Potro and Milos Raonic, 20/1 each.

In the ladies' singles, it is a closer race between four different competitors: Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka are both quoting 5/2, while French Open champ Maria Sharapova and Petra Kvitova are both just behind them on 3/1. Kim Clijsters, Caroline Wozniacki, Na Li and Samantha Stosur are all paying 16/1-20/1 at all the major online sportsbooks.