Flying Makarova should have too much for Giorgi

BBC 11.30am Monday (1pm on show courts)

Fourth-round day at Wimbledon is one of the finest tennis cards in the calendar and there is crack­ing value to be had in at least three of the 16 men's and women's singles matches to be contested at the All England Club.

Roger Federer and Serena Williams are unsurprisingly heading the title markets.

Federer, who could soon go odds-on for a ninth triumph, is playing well and will clearly take some stopping, while Williams is digging deep and has yet to meet anyone with sufficient winning mentality to deny her.

Outright markets are almost always preferable to individual matches when it comes to value, but on a key day such as this it could pay punters to stake higher than may normally be the case.

Giorgi v Makarova
Camila Giorgi and Ekaterina Makarova have never played each other and that makes life trickier for punters, but it can still pay to have an interest on the Russian ace.

Never mind what Caroline Wozniacki said about Makarova being unlikely to go far in the tournament after she dumped the Dane in round two. Makarova is potentially one of the finest fast-court players in the game – it's just that she has been a huge underachiever down the years.

She has tasted doubles success with her partner Elena Vesnina, but with the Sochi ace an absentee this year the less gregarious of the pair is taking the opportunity to remind her fans what she is capable of on grass.

Victories over fine players Petra Martic, Wozniacki and Lucie Safarova should not surprise anyone. Those in doubt should recall how Makarova came through the qualifiers and went all the way in Eastbourne in 2010.

If she's in that sort of mood, and with Wozniacki's comments helping to fire her up she just might be, then she could be huge at 40-1 for the title (with our ante-post tips Petra Kvitova and Sloane Stephens having long since left the building) let alone seeing off Giorgi in the last 16.

Early last night all bookmakers except BoyleSports were still operating each-way terms of one-half the odds a place to reach the final on their outright lists.

Recommendations
E Makarova to bt C Giorgi
5pts 3-4 Betfair
E Makarova to win title
1pt each-way 40-1 general

Kerber v Bencic
It's no surprise to hear the likes of Martina Navratilova saying Angelique Kerber is now the likeliest player to come through the top half of the draw and possibly be the chief threat to Serena Williams, because the German is so competent on grass.

However, while 2016 finalist Kerber has to be favourite against Belinda Bencic there is no way the Swiss miss should be as big as 5-2 for an upset given that she leads their personal series 3-1.

Kerber only won her first sets against Bencic in January, when the former world number seven was still rusty after feeling her way back after one of a number of injury breaks.

Have a decent interest on Bencic keeping it close against Kerber – she has been grinding out wins over decent opponents at Wimbledon – and the upset odds are big too.

Recommendations
B Bencic +4.5 games
5pts 4-5 general
B Bencic
3pts 5-2 general

Nishikori v Gulbis
Ernests Gulbis should probably be out on his feet after coming through qualifying to make the second week at Wimbledon, but the maverick Latvian looked as fresh as a daisy after surprising fourth seed Alexander Zverev in five sets on Saturday.

Gulbis's next task is to make light of a 2-0 head-to-head deficit against Kei Nishikori, conqueror of Aussie firebrands Nick Kyrgios and Bernard Tomic.

But both of those Gulbis wins for the Japanese 24th seed were on clay and with Nishikori still not quite back to his brilliant best after injury woes last year, the world number 138 can be chanced to extend his stay in London.

Recommendation
E Gulbis
2pts 3-1 bet365, BoyleSports

Other matches
Federer will probably find a way past Adrian Mannarino, but Rafael Nadal may face problems against Jiri Vesely, who took the Majorcan close on clay in 2015.

Juan Martin del Potro, yet to drop a set in the singles, may find Gilles Simon tougher to pass than some expect, while Novak Djokovic and John Isner may also need to be focused to progress.

Dominika Cibulkova should have too much for Simona Halep's conqueror Su-Wei Hsieh, but it will be a major surprise if qualifier Evgeniya Rodina troubles fellow mum Serena.

Read Racing Post Sport and racingpost.com/sport every day for the best World Cup betting coverage

Today's top sports betting stories

Sign up to emails from Racing Post Sport and get all the latest news and tips for the World Cup

Follow us on Twitter @racingpostsport

Like us on Facebook RacingPostSport