Wimbledon Day 5: Round 3 Preview and Best Bets

Day four saw few shocks as Wimbledon recovered from the most extraordinary day in history yesterday although the rain denied Grega Zemjla the opportunity to pull one off against Grigor Dimitrov. I will take a look at the day 5 schedule and provide the best value bets for today should the predicted rain not turn up and ruin the day.

Day three was termed "Black Wednesday" and I feel there is plenty of letdown spots for the players who pulled off shock victories. Dustin Brown's entertaining performance was almost hidden behind the drama of Roger Federer's loss but it was still as good a performance as I've seen from the German. I'm inclined to think that that was his peak performance and that his usual level is far below. When his opponent Adrian Mannarino defeated Brown in an indoor challenger in Sarajevo in two tiebreak sets, the odds were almost the reverse of what they are today. For that reason I feel Mannarino is a great bet at 2.3 although it could come down to who performs best in the likely tiebreaks.

Sergiy Stakhovsky was superb in his performance against Roger Federer, although it has to be admitted the 2012 champion was far from his best. It's surprising to find out that the Ukranian has a losing record on grass in the two years previous when watching that performance but that centre court appears to be making the outsiders bring their best just as it should. Only last week in Eastbourne, Stakhovsky dropped sets to the world No.270 and world No. 841 in qualifiers so look to Jurgen Melzer to bring Stakhovsky back down to earth at 2.1.

Eugenie Bouchard was a also a surprise winner, defeating Ana Ivanovic in round two. The Canadian was a winner at Wimbledon last year, taking both the Girls Singles and Girls Doubles titles home so has some pedigree on grass although at a much lower level. Her transition to the tour has been fairly successful, although much of her good results have come on the clay so far. She takes on the more experienced and tricky Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro who is a marginal favourite at 1.9 to take the match. I imagine that Bouchard will struggle with such variety, something that Ivanovic was lacking.

The final pick is not someone who was a shock winner Wednesday but a former champion in the form of Petra Kvitova. The Czech's inconsistencies are there for all to see but when on, there is very few players who can live with her. A winner in 2011, she made the quarter finals despite not being in the greatest of form in 2012. There will always be the concern that Kvitova will have one of her off days which are becoming more and more common but the hope that this form returns still stands. The price has continue to come in and the current 1.83 is becoming too big to turn down.

Tips

Adrian Mannarino (2.3 Boylesports, Sportingbet)

Jurgen Melzer (2.1 Boylesports, Bet365)

Carla Suarez Navarro (1.9 Stan James)

Petra Kvitova (1.83 Boylesports, 888sport)