It was obvious long before Roger Federer smacked his backhand volley directly into the gut of Andy Roddick, capturing the Wimbledon Title for the fifth time.  It was obvious long before the Williams sisters took the main court at Wimbledon for the Women’s Finals, and then took the court later that day in the Women’s Doubles Championships.  Yes, it has been an obvious trend since the New Year began.  The trend has to do with the increasing popularity of online sportsbook gambling, and it has hit a crescendo with the Wimbledon Tennis Championships.

For a gambler’s perspective, it would have been nice if there had been a few upsets along the way.  But, there weren’t, and that’s the way the betting went.  On the men’s side, Federer was headed for a date with destiny.  If he won at Wimbledon, he would pass Pete Sampras as the greatest Grand Slam Champion of all time.  They were both tied at 14 titles apiece, so a bet on anyone but Federer was a wager against destiny, always an iffy proposition.

The Williams sisters were a slightly different scenario.  Sure, there were some other contenders who could have wrested the spotlight from these two gifted athletes.  However, if you saw the first two rounds of play and watched how the Williams sisters throttled their opponents, you knew that they were also headed to a match against each other in the finals.

The online gambling sportsbook parlours were brimming with action on the matches.  Federer was the heavy favourite on the Men’s side, and smart money backed Federer all the way.  Once Rafael Nadal pulled out of the tournament because of a bad knee, the tourney trophy all but had Federer’s name on it.  So, in the online sportsbook gambling parlours, proposition bets became the rage – how many sets will it take Federer to win the final match; how many aces will Federer have, with an over/under established at 25; and how long will it take him to dispose of his opponent in the final, with an over/under established at 1 hour, 50 minutes. 

Well, it took Federer over 4 hours, but he outlasted Roddick 16-14 in the last set to win in an historic match.  On the distaff side, Serena Williams, the slight underdog to her older sister Venus, defeated her sister in straight sets to capture the title.  Both sisters combined to win the Women’s Doubles Championships. 

The crowd was entertained; the online sportsbooks thrived, and the bettors who played the "chalk" went home healthy, wealthy, and wise!