Federer favourite as Murray drifts in Wimbledon betting

Andy Murray was the market leader for Wimbledon two weeks ago, but the Scot has drifted so much that he is now only joint-third favourite behind Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

Australian Open champion Federer, the favourite to be crowned grass-court king for the eighth time, has been eased from 9-4 to 23-10, while French Open hero Nadal is just 9-2 to win a third Wimbledon singles having been 22-1 in May.

But Murray, who was as short as 11-8 at the start of the year to retain his All England Club title, was pushed out to 6-1 to reign on the green courts for a third time.

The world number one is being given every assistance by tournament organisers, and he will open his title defence against Alexander Bublik, the only lucky-loser in the men’s line-up. The Kazakh, ranked 134th in the world, lost 6-3 3-6 4-6 6-2 12-10 to Daniel Brands in the final round of qualifying.

Marin Cilic, who went close to defeating Federer in a titanic quarter-final clash last year, is no better than 20-1 having been 50-1 last month to add to his solitary Grand Slam crown won in the 2014 US Open.

Where the men’s outright market has been fluid, the women’s equivalent has seen little change in recent days.

Two-time Wimbledon singles champion Petra Kvitova is edging favouritism at 5-1 after capturing the Edgbaston title last Sunday.

The Czech, who only recently returned from a layoff after being the victim of a stabbing incident in December, is shading her compatriot Karolina Pliskova for market leadership. The third seed is 11-2 then it’s 14-1 bar the two.