Wimbledon men’s 1st round: British stars’ chances of progression

Wildcard Edmund (4/1) will be hoping to make it third time lucky, as he seeks his first main draw win at Wimbledon.

Unfortunately for the South African-born youngster, he is up against much-fancied Ukrainian Dolgopolov (1/7), who recently knocked Nadal out of Queen’s and reached the semis at Nottingham.

The home crowd could spur on Edmund, who reached the second round at the French Open before withdrawing from the event, but back Dolgopolov to win 3-2 at 6/1.

Edmund’s chance of reaching the second round – 3

Luca Vanni v James Ward

Tennis fans were gutted upon hearing the news that popular Spaniard David Ferrer had to pull out of this year’s tournament with an elbow injury, but section five, and James Ward in particular, will have shown a sigh of relief.

As a result of Ferrer’s absence, Ward (8/15 favourite) will now face lucky loser Luca Vanni (11/8) instead, and the Englishman has a great chance now of emulating his achievement of reaching the second round in 2012.

The duo have played against each other before, although way back in 2008, with Ward winning in straight sets, and he is 12/5 for a 3-0 victory.

Ward’s chance of reaching the second round – 7

Radek Stepanek v Aljaz Bedene

New Brit Bedene (5/4), born in Slovenia, has also never got past the first round of a Grand Slam in eight attempts, and faces a tough test against former SW19 quarter-finalist Stepanek (4/7).

The Czech veteran, 36, though, has not had much grass court preparation leading up to this event, so Bedene, over 10 years Stepanek’s junior, has a decent chance to cause an upset. The British number two is a 9/2 chance to win 3-1.

Bedene’s chance of reaching the second round – 5

Andreas Seppi v Brydan Klein
Another new British convert Klein, originally from Australia but has an English mother, will take the stage at SW19 on Tuesday, and he has the potential to cause a shock too against clay court specialist Seppi.

The Italian (heavy 1/8 odds-on favourite), though, has shown that he isn’t a one-court wonder, as he reached the final at Halle, losing out to Roger Federer, however he then lost early at Nottingham.

Wildcard Klein, 25, is an enticing 9/2 chance, though, given that he has already beaten the likes of Ward and Marcos Baghdatis on grass this season.

Klein’s chance of reaching the second round – 4