WTA Wimbledon first-round play begins. For many, this is 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. Still, 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
Sabalenka – Kostovic: 10:30 EST
H2H: 0-0
This WTA Wimbledon event will feature a number of big stories. One of the biggest is whether Aryna Sabalenka can win her first Wimbledon championship. The opportunity is there for the top seed and World No. 1. Elena Rybakina is not playing well. Neither is defending champion Iga Swiatek. Roland-Garros champion Mirra Andreeva is not as good on grass as she is on clay, which affects her WTA Wimbledon odds in a negative way. Coco Gauff is not a particularly strong grass player. Amanda Anisimova, who made the final last year, has been injured for much of 2026 and doesn’t come to the All-England Club in good form. Sabalenka could win this tournament, but she has not been playing well and hasn’t been showing the kind of toughness we are used to seeing from her. She blew a huge lead against Diana Shnaider at Roland-Garros and shockingly lost that quarterfinal match. She has to find a way to bounce back. Now we will begin to see if she can.
Best Bet to Make
Sabalenka is a gigantic favorite here, so Sabalenka in straight sets offers a tiny price which is obviously not worth a standalone bet. You could put that in a parlay if you want, but it won’t offer tremendous value. The game spread is where the action is. The most evenly-priced spread is 6.5 games. Sabalenka took this past week off after losing in the Berlin semifinals (to Jessica Pegula). She should be rested. If she is reasonably healthy, there’s no reason she shouldn’t be able to cover the spread against Kostovic, who is ranked outside the top 150 and got here by winning three qualifying matches against ordinary grass players.
That being said, betting on Sabalenka -6.5 games is a value bet for sure.
Value bet/ the best odds: Sabalenka -6.5 games @1.87 @1xbet
Frech – Kalinskaya: Time 11:00 EST
H2H: 2-1
Neither Magdalena Frech nor Anna Kalinskaya has done much of anything on grass this season. Frech is 1-3 in four grass matches, while Kalinskaya is 1-2 in three grass matches. Both players have lost to talented opponents. Frech lost to Naomi Osaka. Kalinskaya has lost to Elena Gabriela Ruse and Elina Svitolina. Which player will figure out how to handle not only the lawns of this WTA Wimbledon showcase, but also the tactics of the opponent? It’s not an easy match to call, but Kalinskaya is the clear betting-market favorite going into this battle.
Best Bet to Make
The over 2.5 set bet looks tempting, and you can consider it. You can also throw Kalinskaya moneyline into a parlay, but the price for that is not tremendous as a standalone bet. The recommended best bet here is Frech plus 1.5 sets. Kalinskaya’s grass form is not great. Frech’s form isn’t clearly better, but it’s also not clearly worse. Kalinskaya is getting a lot of respect from the markets, which means there is real value in being able to make pro-Frech bet of some kind. We think she will at least be able to win a set. The price for that is pretty good.
That being said, betting on Frech +1.5 sets is a value bet for sure.
Value bet/ the best odds: Frech +1.5 sets @1.81 @unibet
Korpatsch – Gauff: Time 11:30 EST
H2H: 1-0
Coco Gauff enters this WTA Wimbledon tournament without much of any confidence. She lost her one grass warm-up match and chose not to play any other grass tournaments. She enters Wimbledon as the No. 7 seed, her lowest seed at a major tournament in quite some time. Gauff has regularly been a top-five seed, usually top-four, at the biggest tournaments, but now she is outside the top five. She has struggled with her serve and her forehand and needs to find a way to get back on track. That having been said, she could not ask for a much better first-round opponent than Tamara Korpatsch, who is 0-3 on grass this season and does not seem to have the weapons needed to truly threaten Gauff.
Best Bet to Make
The level of Coco Gauff’s tennis hasn’t been good lately, but Tamara Korpatsch is the ideal opponent for Gauff. She does not have a big serve and is not a powerful hitter who can put Gauff off balance. Gauff should be able to break serve repeatedly in this match, and that’s how a huge favorite can cover the game spread. Gauff moneyline offers a very small price. You could put that into a parlay. In terms of our recommended single bet, the evenly-priced game spread is 6.5 games. We think Gauf will cover it.
That being said, betting on Gauff -6.5 games is a value bet for sure.
Value bet/ the best odds: Gauff -6.5 games @1.74 @1xbet
Main Photo Credit: Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports
