Wimbledon 2019: Day six betting preview, tips & TV details

Third round
BBC1, BBC2, BBC red button, 11am (1pm Centre Court & Court One) Saturday

Johanna Konta is favourite to defeat Sloane Stephens for the fourth time this year when the pair clash on day six of Wimbledon for a place in the fourth round at the All England Club.

French Open semi-finalist Konta has carried over the fine form she showed on clay to the grass courts, although the British number one could well find this test against Stephens more difficult than their previous three meetings this season.

Konta was the better prepared for their first match in Brisbane and she would have taken last year's French Open finalist by surprise in Rome and, to an extent, at Roland Garros with the improvement she displayed on clay this term.

Stephens, who is capable of much better at Wimbledon than her quarter-final placing in 2013, the year Marion Bartoli won the title, could be a generous price to notch a first win over Konta and punters can consider getting involved on the American.

However, the best value on the day-six card could be in a couple of men's matches, one of which features another red-hot Briton.

Sousa v Evans

Joao Sousa did well to deny Marin Cilic 6-4 6-4 6-4 in round two but the boot could be on the other foot for the Portuguese number one when he takes on in-form Dan Evans.

The Birmingham ace is on a high after back-to-back ATP Challenger title triumphs in lesser events in Surbiton and Nottingham and David Felgate is doing a cracking job with Evans.

It was never in doubt that Evans was a force on hard courts – he posted some terrific scalps in North America prior to his cocaine ban in 2017-18 – but Felgate has galvanised his charge well on grass for what is already the best Wimbledon of his career.

Evans is a fine battler with a good temperament for the big-match atmosphere and he ought to be able to cross the line in three or four sets.

Recommendation
D Evans -1.5 sets
1pt 7-10 Coral, Ladbrokes

Back Dan Evans -1.5 sets with Paddy Power

Sandgren v Fognini

Italy's fine grass-court season goes on with ATP aces Fabio Fognini, Matteo Berrettini and Thomas Fabbiano all excelling themselves on the green courts.

However, Fognini may have priced on the short side for his clash with American maverick Tennys Sandgren.

Monte Carlo Masters hero Fognini leads Sangren 2-0 in their personal series, but their clay-court clashes in Rio de Janeiro and Geneva last year were both close and the outsider could be a lot more dangerous to the Italian on grass.

Punters can consider backing Sandgren, a surprise quarter-finalist in last year's Australian Open, to land an upset triumph but getting with him on the handicap with a start of 5.5 games should do for punters who like extra insurance.

Recommendation
T Sandgren +5.5 games
1pt 4-6 Betfair, Betway, Paddy Power

Other matches

The jury is still out as to Belinda Bencic's chances of going all the way on the Wimbledon grass and the Swiss miss could find Alison Riske a tough third-round opponent.

Riske has done well to deny Balkans duo Donna Vekic and Ivana Jorovic, both in three close sets.

And while Bencic has had an easier time of it with straight-sets wins over Anastasia Pavlyu­chen­kova and Kaia Kanepi, she is no certainty to dominate Riske on the American’s favourite terrain.

Punters can consider support­ing Riske on total-games handicaps or to win at least a set.

Serena Williams was recommended as title value in the pre-Wimbledon preview, but punters should tread carefully with the veteran American against Julia Goerges, whom she comfortably defeated 6-3 6-3 in the Wimbledon semi-finals last summer.

This is Williams' first acid test. She has just had enough to get past Giulia Gatto-Monticone and Kaja Juvan in her opening singles outings, but she will need to find more to deny Goerges on grass. We will know more about the 11th seed's chances of landing an eighth grass-court championship after this match.

Qiang Wang, who has dropped just seven games in victories over Vera Lapko and Tamara Zidansek, could interest punters in her bid to frank rank against Elise Mertens. The Chinese ace has won all three of their meetings.

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