WTA Wimbledon first-round play begins. This is, for many, the crown jewel of all tennis tournaments, known locally as The Championships. The women’s tournament begins with Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina as the top two seeds, but they are not playing well and are not entering the All-England Club with much of any confidence. Iga Swiatek is the defending champion but is not playing well, either. There are a lot of questions in the women’s tournament, and there is a real chance the tournament will be as unpredictable as the French Open was a few weeks ago, with Mirra Andreeva playing Maja Chwalinska in a very unexpected final. What will happen at Wimbledon? There’s a lot of uncertainty, which should create a very exciting tournament. LWOS has our best bet for three matches. Post your best bets and thoughts in the comments.
WTA Wimbledon
Bencic – Stojsavljevic: 6:00 EST
H2H: 0-0
It’s always notable when one player makes her WTA Wimbledon match the first match of her grass season. Belinda Bencic has not played a single match since Roland-Garros due to injury concerns. She didn’t want to take a chance by playing live matches and instead wanted to give her body a chance to recover before playing the main draw of Wimbledon. She is still ranked in the top 15, and at a tournament which is widely viewed as being wide-open, Bencic has a chance to do something, though everyone is waiting to see how fit and healthy she truly is. Mike Stojsavljevic has played five grass matches this season. That’s decent match play preparation for this tournament, though Stojsavljevic is just 2-3 in those five matches. She is ranked outside the top 250, which explains why Bencic is such a huge betting-market favorite despite her injury concerns.
Best Bet to Make
This match has two obvious betting angles. One is to take Bencic to win in straight sets, because the Bencic moneyline price is small and not worth touching as a standalone bet. You could actually fold Bencic winning 2:0 into a parlay if you wanted. Our recommended single wager, however, is the game spread. Stojsavljevic is not getting any real respect from the markets, which is understandable given her low world ranking. However, with Bencic’s health and fitness being a real question going into this WTA Wimbledon match, Stojsavljevic could cover a modest-size game spread. The evenly-priced game spread here is 5.5 games. Stojsavljevic could cover the spread if the final score is 7-6, 6-2 or 7-5, 6-3. That’s a good amount of space for Stojsavljevic to cover the spread if Bencic is less than 100-percent healthy.
That being said, betting on Stojsavljevic +5.5 games is a value bet for sure.
Value bet/ the best odds: Stojsavljevic +5.5 games @1.98 @Unibet
Cristian – Jovic: Time 6:00 EST
H2H: 0-0
An intriguing WTA Wimbledon first-round match is this one, involving two top-40 players. Neither Jaqueline Cristian nor Iva Jovic has played a lot of grass tennis over the past three weeks leading up to this tournament. They both played just one tournament. Cristian went 1-1 in two matches. Jovic went 3-1 in four matches. Jovic is ranked No. 17, Cristian No. 38. The light grass schedules would suggest that both players are ready to play a lot of hardcourt tennis in the upcoming North American summer. They wanted to stay physically fresh and not worry too much about their performance at the All-England Club. Will there be any difference in the motivation levels of these players? That’s an interesting question to think about.
Best Bet to Make
Jovic is clearly the better player. Though she did not have an extensive grass season, she did play better than Cristian on grass in a small sample size. If Jovic is able to win the first set of this match, she should be able to then carry momentum into the second set and win the match in straight sets to make the second round of WTA Wimbledon. Jaqueline Cristian is a decent player, but not an extremely dangerous player. There is nothing about Cristian’s game which should be especially threatening to Jovic. That should enable Jovic to win in straight sets, which you can get for a not-spectacular but good-enough price.
That being said, betting on Jovic winning 2:0 is a value bet for sure.
Value bet/ the best odds: Jovic winning 2:0 @1.62 @1xBet
Sorribes Tormo – Jimenez Kasintseva: Time 6:00 EST
H2H: 1-0
Sara Sorribes Tormo is ranked No. 252 in the world. Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva is ranked No. 111. Yet, the betting markets have Sorribes Tormo as a slight favorite. Why would this be the case? It’s a simple argument: Sorribes Tormo has won a WTA Wimbledon first-round match several times in the past. She is the much more experienced major-tournament player. She has won at least one main-draw match at all four major tournaments. Jimenez Kasintseva didn’t player her first main-draw major tournament match until last August at the 2025 US Open. She lost. She is still looking for that first victory and will likely be very nervous as she tries to get the job done. Working in Jimenez Kasintseva’s favor is the fact that she is 5-1 in her last six matches. However, none of those matches were on grass. Neither player has played a single grass match this season, which adds to the intrigue of this matchup.
Best Bet to Make
The fact that Sorribes Tormo is more experienced at major tournaments should matter here. It seems that Jimenez Kasintseva is still learning how to handle these really big matches at the most important tournaments. There is no match more important than a WTA Wimbledon main-draw match. You could think about the over 2.5 sets bet, since neither player is proven or tested on grass and neither player is ranked inside the top 100. However, we think Sorribes Tormo is a lot more likely to handle this match well, and therefore is a lot more likely to win. The Sorribes Tormo moneyline price is good. Just keep it simple.
That being said, betting on Sorribes Tormo winning is a value bet for sure.
Value bet/ the best odds: Sorribes Tormo winning @1.76 @1xBet
Main Photo Credit: Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports