Wimbledon day seven predictions & tennis betting tips: Bencic could put the wind up title favourite Swiatek

Where to watch

Live on BBC One, BBC Two & BBC iPlayer, from 11am Sunday

Best bets

Belinda Bencic +5.5 games on handicap v Iga Swiatek
2pts 17-20 Hills

Belinda Bencic to beat Iga Swiatek
1pt 11-2 Paddy Power

Jannik Sinner -7.5 games on handicap v Daniel Elahi Galan
1pt 4-6 bet365

Over 39.5 games in Roman Safiullin v Denis Shapovalov
1pt 3-4 Coral, Ladbrokes

Over 9.5 games in first set of Hubert Hurkacz v Novak Djokovic
1pt 8-11 bet365

Wimbledon day seven preview 

Intermittent rain is still posing problems with the Wimbledon scheduling, although with fewer singles matches to be contested in the coming days and roofs on the two show courts the tournament is unlikely to suffer any major issues in terms of its completion in the coming days.

Tournament favourites Novak Djokovic and Iga Swiatek are the star attractions on day seven and for one of that pair at least, the middle Sunday could provide a serious test of their title credentials.

Iga Swiatek v Belinda Bencic

Iga Swiatek looked a little shaky when trying to get over the finishing line in her third-round clash with grass-lover Petra Martic and it's just possible that the Pole could feel the heat even more in the last 16. 

Belinda Bencic, seeded 14th at the All England Club this year, has the difficult task of trying to end Swiatek's interest in Wimbledon for at least another year. But don't be surprised if 26-year-old Swiss Bencic, a huge talent in her own right, makes the French and US Open champion toil.

Bencic beat Swiatek in straight sets in their most recent meeting to make it 1-1 in their personal series. And considering the nippy green lawns are the favourite's weakest surface at this early stage of her career, a chance can be taken to support the outsider, who can be backed with a handicap start of 5.5 games and to post a seismic upset.

Jannik Sinner v Daniel Elahi Galan

Jannik Sinner has reached the quarter-finals of all four Grand Slam tournaments, but the Italian has never been past the last eight in a major singles event.

That could change this year, however, and after requiring four sets to get past big-serving Frenchman Quentin Halys in round three, the man from the Dolomites could find things more routine against Colombian Daniel Elahi Galan in the last 16.

Sinner posted straight-sets triumphs over Argentinians Juan Manuel Cerundolo and Diego Schwartzman in the first two rounds of the competition, recording victory margins of 12 and 11 games respectively. 

With that in mind, he ought to be up to conceding a handicap start of 7.5 games to his latest South American opponent.

Roman Safiullin v Denis Shapovalov

It's good to see Denis Shapovalov back in decent form but it should be remembered that it wasn't that long ago that the Canadian threatened to give up the sport.

Only in week one of Wimbledon has Shapo looked anything like his old self again and so punters should be wary of supporting him against Roman Safiullin, an opponent who has been showing definite promise in the last couple of seasons.

Safiullin's game looks well suited to the demands of grass-court tennis and bookmaker make Shapovalov only a narrow favourite. So finding a way to get with the outsider could be the way to go and backing over 39.5 games to be contested in this fourth-round rumble is the preferred way of doing so.

Hubert Hurkacz v Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic, who has been the Wimbledon champion since 2018, remains the player to beat at the All England Club but his fourth-round opponent Hubert Hurkacz, who famously defeated Roger Federer in the grass Slam in the 2021 quarter-finals, may test the super Serb in a set or two.

Hurkacz is pretty much at his physical prime as a player and, given that he tends to perform better on faster surfaces, the Pole may be able to keep tabs on Djokovic in their opening set.

Djokovic has won all three of his opening sets at Wimbledon 6-3 this year. But while the decision as to who serves first can be important in such betting, it may still be worth taking the opportunity to back Hurkacz to stay solid in the early exchanges and help to forge a long set, so back it to feature at least ten games.

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