Serena Williams Favorite to Win Singles Gold in Olympic Tennis, While Federer Top Bet for Men
Each player has won the career Grand Slam, and Federer has totaled 17 (a men?s record) major wins, and Serena 14. Both have also spent plenty of time at No. 1, with Federer currently there to break Pete Sampras? record for total weeks atop the rankings.
But there is one thing missing from the resume of Federer and Serena: an Olympic gold medal. Well, there is a caveat to that statement: Serena won doubles gold in Sydney (2000) and Beijing (2008) with sister Venus, while Federer won doubles gold with Swiss partner Stanislas Wawrinka four years ago. But doubles gold isn?t the same thing as winning an individual title.
With Federer soon to turn 32 and Serena 31, it?s almost assured that the upcoming London Games will be their last realistic chance for a singles gold medal. And perhaps ironically, the tennis competition in London will be held on the same hallowed All England Club grass as Wimbledon. That?s the site of the greatest successes for Federer (a record-tying seven Wimbledon titles) and Serena (five).
Serena is the 3-2 favorite at Bovada to win the women?s singles gold. She proved that she is still the most powerful female player alive by hitting a tournament-record 102 aces in winning Wimbledon. And instead of taking some time off to recover, Serena flew to California after that tournament and won the Bank of the West Classic over a watered-down field with ease. Other than a stunning first-round upset at the French Open, Serena has dominated this year with a 38-3 record and four overall titles.
Russia?s Maria Sharapova is the second-favorite at 10-3. The French Open champ lost her No. 1 world ranking after a fourth-round upset loss at Wimbledon. But she is 39-6 on the year with three titles. Russians swept the medal podium in women?s tennis four years ago, but Sharapova wasn?t one of them as Elena Dementieva took home the gold. It was the first time since tennis returned as a medal sport in 1988 that an American woman didn?t medal.
The Czech Republic?s Petra Kvitova (9-2), current No. 1 Victoria Azarenka (5-1) of Belarus and Wimbledon runner-up Agnieszka Radwanska (16-1) of Poland round out the favorites. American Venus Williams, who has struggled with an autoimmune disease for a year and lost in the first round at Wimbledon, is a long shot at 33-1. While Federer might be the top-ranked player in the world, he is only the 5-2 second-favorite to win gold.
The favorite is No. 2 Novak Djokovic (7-4), who lost his top ranking when he was beaten by Federer in the semifinals of Wimbledon. After winning the Australian Open in January for his third Grand Slam title in a row, the Serb was beaten by Rafael Nadal in the French Open final and then by Federer at Wimbledon. Djokovic won bronze in Beijing in '08.
The American player with the shortest odds to win gold is Andy Roddick at 50-1. But he has struggled in a big way this year with a singles record barely above .500. He was a third-round loser at Wimbledon. Only one American male has won tennis gold since the sport?s return to the Games: Andre Agassi in 1996. No U.S. man medaled in 2008; James Blake lost to Djokovic in the bronze-medal match. All singles matches at the Games are best two-of-three sets except for the men?s final, which is best three-of-five.
