Serena Williams underdog in Wimbledon opener, big long shot to win title

Field Level MediaMon, June 29, 2026 at 3:35 AM UTC

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Serena Williams is beginning her return to Wimbledon as an underdog to win her opening match, so it stands to reason she is a significant long shot to win the women's title at the All England Club.

Williams, 44, will compete in her first singles match in nearly four years on Tuesday when she takes on 20-year-old Australian Maya Joint. The most recent of Williams' seven Wimbledon titles came a decade ago, and she's +115 underdog just to get out of the first round. Joint is the -150 favorite to make Williams' singles return a single match.

A 23-tme Grand Slam singles champion, Williams is a +4000 underdog to claim No. 24 at Wimbledon, where she acknowledged her primary goal is to "enjoy being out there."

Top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka enters as the +350 favorite to win the women's title despite the Belarusian having been bounced in the semifinals of her only grass-court warmup event. She is the book's second-biggest liability and leads the draw with 16.0% of the total bets and 18.2% of the money backing Sabalenka to claim the title.

"Overall, I feel like things are clicking back together," Sabalenka said. "Now I'm here, I'm happy and I can't wait to start playing."

Sabalenka's road was made a bit easier with the withdrawal on Sunday of Great Britain's Emma Raducanu (leg injury), the 30th seed who reached the finals at Queen's Club earlier this month. The two could have potentially met in the third round.

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The second-shortest odds belong to Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina, with the No. 2 seed being offered at +650.

BetMGM's biggest liability is American Jessica Pegula, who dominated Sabalenka in Berlin two weeks ago. She has been backed by 8.3% and 8.7% of the action, respectively, while seeing her odds shorten from +3300 to +800. Still seeking her first career Grand Slam title, Pegula now has the third-shortest odds in the women's draw.

She has vaulted past defending champion Iga Swiatek of Poland, who is being offered at +1000. Swiatek is attempting to become the first woman since Williams to successfully defend at Wimbledon.

"I feel proud of what happened last year," Swiatek said. "But ... I feel like I'm starting from a totally different position and keeping my expectations low. It's not going to be smooth because of last year. Even though I won, I still have stuff to figure out."

Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva, coming off her first Grand Slam title at the French Open, is just behind at +1100. Americans Madison Keys and Amanda Anisimova each are at +1400. Fellow American Coco Gauff is +1600 entering the tournament.

--Field Level Media

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Source: “AOL Sports”