The Longshot: Net gains to be had by backing man who hasn't lost since 2017

THE weather is cloudy and a bit chilly, a sure sign that the true Irish summer is on the way at last.

What was that bright period at the end of May and beginning of June? A hay fever dream?

Did it really happen. The pale visage that greats me each morning in the mirror suggests not.

You know that it is the heart of the summer here when you have to avoid a bin surrounded by wasps and leap over a jumble of puddles on the same day. Blue heavens swiftly turn ominous grey as the season comes at us in spurts and jolts.

Last night, as I walked the dog, kicking my way through leaves, I recalled those sultry May days of frisbee and 99s. Days to feel guilty because you were too lazy to finally attack the garden.

July, which, if my calculations are right, is next month, always offers plenty but rarely delivers much.

A nice week at some stage maybe if we cross our fingers tight.

On the television weather forecast the map of Europe will appear blood-red, Britain dim orange and we will be the same hue of yellow that jigsaw puzzle covers turn in the window displays of rundown seaside shops.

Also on TV in July is the thing that probably sums up this part of our year best: Wimbledon, the tennis extravaganza where the players traditionally wear all-white and the spectators all-raincoat.

Of course for many years we all wanted rain to fall on centre court, because as the damp ballboys and ballgirls pulled the tarpaulin across the grass someone in the BBC would reach for the tape of the 1980 final. Each year the precipitation over South London gave us an opportunity to watch Bjorn Borg v John McEnroe in the best tennis game of all time (until it was bettered by the 2008 decider between Federer and Nadal; a match so intriguing I missed the entirety of a Paul Weller gig in the Marquee so I could watch the end of it).

You are surely asking yourself, “Why, Robert, did you not become a top tennis player?"

It is a good question, because when we were kids my brother and I would, with the basic props of a few chairs, a very long steel pole, some sleeping bags and a few bottles of Mi-Wadi (Robinson’s being too rich for our tastes), recreate the All England Lawn Tennis Club in our back garden every summer (the tarmac out the front was used when the French Open was on, tarmac being the closest surface to clay available to us).

Alas, we spent as much time flinging our racquets at each other over the net because of questionable line calls, as we did the ball and my mother would eventually decide that tennis was just too violent a game for us. “Officially” though these games were stopped because of rain.

A couple of weeks ago I joined the local club and am pleased to report I haven’t lost it (my temper, not any latent prowess for the game). It’s actually quite enjoyable to bat the ball back and forth against someone you don’t wish to beat with every fibre and sinew of your being. It helps that I have a dodgy leg and my opponent has a dodgy back and our zeal for testing each other’s lung capacity is limited. We settled for a one-set all draw when the action ended in game, set and cramp.

Djokovic is Wimbledon favourite as he pursues Calendar Grand Slam

ANYONE remember the action from SW19 last summer? Novak Djokovic came from a set down in the decider to defeat Nick Kyrgios, as the hot-headed Aussie had a complete meltdown on centre court, blaming his defeat squarely on a woman in the crowd drinking too many gin and tonics.

The Serb server is on a 28-match winning streak going back to 2017 at the venue and is now attempting to equal Margaret Court’s record of 24 single Slam titles by winning his eighth Wimbledon crown in the tournament that begins on Monday.

Although he missed last season’s Australian and US Opens due to his unvaccinated status, Djokovic has won six of the last eight majors he has played, including the last three: Wimbledon, last summer, and this year’s Australian and French Opens.

At Roland Garros, he was masterful seeing off Carlos Alcaraz in the semis his biggest challenger as best in world.

He is 4/6 to win on the grass and it's 7/2 that the Spaniard can deny him on a surface that would seem to suit the Serb better (Italian Jannik Sinner, 18/1, beat Alcaraz in the round of 16 last year).

The 20-year-old will go in as top seed though as he beat Alex de Minaur in the final at Queen’s last week for his first grass court title in only his third-ever appearance on the surface.

Bookmakers offered 25/1 on Djokovic winning all four Grand Slams this year before a ball was served, but that has dropped to 11/5, after he was successful in the first two majors of the season.

He is 11/10 on to win three Grand Slams, or 2/1 on remaining on just two majors. Only two players have ever completed a Calendar Slam in men’s singles history: Don Budge and Rod Laver. Budge pulled it off in 1938, and Laver in 1962. Both achievements came prior to the Open era, but Laver repeated the feat in 1969.

While he has never won a Calendar Slam, Djokovic has won four consecutive majors: Wimbledon and the US Open in 2015, and then the Australian Open and the French Open in 2016.

He has come close to a Calendar Slam on three occasions.

In 2011, he won three majors and reached the semis of the French Open.

He won the same three and finished runner-up at the French Open in 2015.

He won the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon in 2021, before suffering a shock defeat to Daniil Medvedev in the US Open final.

Djokovic has only won three US Open titles during his career, finishing runner-up on six occasions.

On the women’s side, Iga Swiatek won this year’s French Open to land her fourth career Grand Slam, but for all her dominance on clay and hard courts, Swiatek has struggled on grass.

She has yet to make it past the fourth round of Wimbledon, but comes in as the 3/1 favourite. Aryna Sabalenka has one Grand Slam to her name, this year’s Australian Open, and reached the Wimbledon semis in 2021. She missed the tournament last year, but is 4/1.

But we’ll stick with Elena Rybakina even if she let us down in the first two majors (losing in the final when a set up in Melbourne, and forced out due to sickness at the French Open).

F1 following same script

FORMULA One is back with the Austrian Grand Prix at Red Bull Ring and it is likely that the beverage’s top driver will take the top of the podium again as the season is turning into another procession.

Max Verstappen won his sixth race of the season and fourth in a row in Montreal two weeks ago and is a hefty 4/9 favourite to make it five straight. Charles Leclerc (9/1) won this race last year but Ferrari’s struggles have him well off the pace.

The Flying Dutchman has a 69-point lead on his teammate Sergio Perez (10/1) and a 78-point buffer over third-place driver Fernando Alonso (10/). Lewis Hamilton’s (12/1) third-place finish in Canada was his second consecutive podium and third in n the season, suggesting the once all-dominant Mercedes has figured something out.

Chiedozie now a Hatter

GREAT news on a football front for Hatters fans as Cork’s Chiedozie Ogbene joined Luton Town on a free transfer from Rotherham this week.

The pacy and skillful winger is now 26 and getting his first chance to impress in the Premier League after showing his potential in the Ireland game against France earlier this year. It looks like a good signing for player and club, who remain 2/5 favourites to go straight back down.

Before all that, The Hatters have to spend around £13m to ensure Kenilworth Road complies with Premier League regulations, with one stand having to be almost rebuilt from scratch over the summer.

City odds on for another title

AT the other end of the table it is 4/6 on City defending their title next season, which looks a fair enough price considering they have dominated the league of late and will probably sign some more big names before long.

Last year’s runners-up Arsenal are chasing one-time Ireland player Declan Rice and are 7/1 to go one better next season.

Liverpool, who have finished runners-up to City three times in the past 10 seasons, are marginally expected to put up a stronger fight after a season to forget and are 9/1, while Man Utd are next in the betting at 11/1.

Newcastle qualified for the top four for the first time in 20 years and with Saudi money they look like a team trending in the right direction so odds of 14/1 could look big by the time next season gets underway.

The Bet

THE old saying goes there is only one point that really matters in tennis: the final one. It’s a pretty stupid saying really. But one thing that has always bothered me is what is the final score in a game? We go from love (for whatever reason) to 15, to 30, to 40, to what? 60? Hate? I have googled it but without gaining a satisfactory answer. If you have one send it on a postcard to the usual address. Otherwise go for a double on Novak Djokovic and Elena Rybakina again at odds of 10/1.