We suggested on Tuesday that the match between Venus Williams and Kimiko Date-Krumm would be well worth watching. For those who bought tickets, they weren’t disappointed. After three hours of some of the best tennis seen this year, Venus Williams finally prevailed, and I’m sure she’ll admit to a hard won escape. Both of these ladies played exceptional tennis. You can’t say the tennis played was weak because of their ages – it was just great tennis. Williams may have won, but she has certainly lost the support of both the bookmakers and the punters with her outright prices drifting out to 10/1 or worse.

In outright betting, Sharapova has firmed to 4/1 while Serena Williams remains stable at 5/1. A big mover is Petra Kvitova, in from 9/1 to 8/1 in some places, but a general 15/2. French Open winner Na Li is firm at 10/1 while the rest of the field has drifted slightly.

Serena Williams is looking good. Her real test will come next week where her stamina will be put to the test. She has been out of tennis for a long time and is playing as much on instinct as she is skill. There’s no doubting the quality of the Williams sisters and they could still surprise by going all the way.

Sharapova is the one to watch. She seems to be set on going the distance in this event and where in the past it’s been more a media show for her than a tennis event, this year we have seen the reverse with tennis taking all of her focus. She’s good value at 4/1 although you may need to be quick; there are only a couple of bookmakers now offering those odds – Victor Chandler stands out as one.

Women’s tennis at Wimbledon is certainly living up to its reputation for delivering the very best quality tennis. It’s hard to take the eyes off the replays to write these posts, but we’ll be back with more Wimbledon betting updates as the tournament progresses.