It would seem that Serena Williams should the overwhelming favorite at Wimbledon, despite the memories of her bizarre scene in England last year. She is.
What is much more bizarre is the fact that struggling Eugenie Bouchard, loser of nine of her last 10 competitive matches, is listed with the same odds as Williams' best friend, No. 5-ranked Caroline Wozniacki.
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International Business Times reported on the odds to win Wimbledon as posted by Sportsbook.ag, and Williams checks in at 8-to-5 odds.
Those odds don't seem so low, considering that Williams is 32-1 in 2015, her only loss on the court a semifinals loss to Petra Kvitova at the Madrid Open in early May. Williams seems to be on a dual quest to catch Steffi Graf's modern-day record of 22 Grand Slam titles and to become the first player since Graf to win all four slams in a single year.
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Williams has 20 Grand Slams after her French Open title, and winning Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in the fall would make her the first women's player since Graf accomplished the feat since 1988.
But as International Business Times reports, Williams has not had strong showings at Wimbledon of late.
"Her overall dominance throughout her career, not her recent play on Wimbledon's grass, makes Williams the player to beat this year," IBT reported. "In the last two go-rounds Williams was eliminated in the fourth and third round, but her victories at the Australian and French Opens put her well above the competition."
Her loss to Alize Cornet in the third round of Wimbledon last year precluded her memorable doubles match with sister Venus against Kristina Barrois and Stefanie Voegele where she apparently was so sick and disoriented that she couldn't bounce a tennis ball or hit a serve over the net.
And if it's a Grand Slam event, chances are Williams may be sick again at Wimbledon.
Petra Kvitova is the second favorite at 7-2, followed by Maria Sharapova at 8-1.
Bouchard is 30-1, despite a 7-12 record in 2015 that includes four straight losses and nine of her last 10. She lost her first match in the Aegon Birmingham Classic on Wednesday to Kristina Mladenovic in three sets on Wednesday.
Wozniacki, who lost in the second round of the French Open but has a 24-11 record in 2015, also is 30-1.
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