Wimbledon Women's Betting: Five potential women's first round upsets

Backing Azarenka to fall in the first round is high risk but high value.

The first round gets underway at Wimbledon on Monday, Abelson Info hunt through the draw to identify some possible upsets...

The top five seeds have had a reasonably favourable draw at SW19 this year, and they will all be targeting a spot in the second round with a confidence-boosting performance to start the tournament.

However, things aren't looking so straight forward for a number of the other top names participating, and there are genuine grounds for some potential upsets to open Wimbledon 2014.

Perhaps the most high risk yet high value option would be backing Mirjana Lucic-Baroni as she prepares to take on eighth seed Victoria Azarenka.

The Croatian is a dangerous proposition in her own right, but coupled with the fact that Azarenka has played little tennis in the last few months and lost in her comeback game at Eastbourne, there are legitimate doubts over what kind of condition the Belarusian is in.

As a result, while you can expect a gritty performance from the former world number one, there could be some rustiness which will make this closer than it would usually be.

Elsewhere, Jelena Jankovic will likely have her hands full when she takes on Kaia Kanepi, with the latter performing well at Wimbledon over the years by making the quarter-finals twice.

Her Serbian rival has never been that far in this tournament and considering that they are level at 3-3 in their head-to-head record, things could get tricky for the seventh seed despite her reputation of being one of the more consistent performers on the tour.

Looking through the rest of the draw that isn't where the possible shocks end, with Sara Errani another top seed that could be an early casualty given the difficultly of her first round opponent.

Caroline Garcia has rapidly climbed the rankings in recent times and has previously beaten her Italian rival, and as a result the confidence of overcoming the odds should make this an interesting encounter.

Meanwhile, another pair of young stars in Sloane Stephens and Eugenie Bouchard also face tough first assignments, facing Maria Kirilenko and Daniela Hantuchova respectively.

Bouchard is pushing for a third consecutive Grand Slam semi-final this year but she will have to counter the experience of her wily opponent, while Kirilenko is a former top 10 player that had her development derailed by a knee injury this year.

Nevertheless, both clashes are intriguing and the underdog is undoubtedly worth an investment in what appears on paper to be an even contest.

Recommended Bets:
Back Lucic-Baroni to beat Azarenka @ 6.411/2
Back Kanepi to beat Jankovic @ 4.03/1
Back Garcia to beat Errani @ 2.1411/10
Back Hantuchova to beat Bouchard @ 4.1n/a
Back Kirilenko to beat Stephens @ 4.57/2