Tennis Betting Tips: Tough matches for Gauff and Jovic on Wimbledon Day 3

I went two-for-three on Day 1 of Wimbledon, landing 8/11 and 21/20 winners, and I return on Day 3 with another three picks from the women's singles.

My Tennis Betting Tips for Wednesday 1 July follow...

Game Handicap 2 - Solana Sierra (+5.5) vs Cori 'Coco' Gauff @ 5/6

Two-time Grand Slam champion Coco Gauff, who won the US Open in 2023 and the French Open in 2025, has never made it past the fourth round of Wimbledon, exiting at that stage in 2019, 2021 and 2024.

Last year, she was dumped out in the first round 6-7, 1-6 by Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska, and in her only grass-court match prior to this year's event, in Berlin earlier this month, she was beaten 6-1, 3-6, 2-6 by Spaniard Paula Badosa, who was a fine player in her heyday but is currently well outside the top 100.

Gauff made an encouraging start to her 2026 Wimbledon campaign on Monday, dispatching German Tamara Korpatsch 6-2, 6-1 and holding serve throughout.

Up next for the American No. 2 and seventh seed is Argentine Solana Sierra, who she has played twice already this year.

Gauff made light work of the 22-year-old at the United Cup in Australia on 3 January, beating Sierra 6-1, 6-1, but things were much tighter when the two met at the Italian Open in Rome on 9 May, with the American battling back from a set down to record a 5-7, 6-0, 6-4 victory.

Sierra went well at Wimbledon last year, entering the main draw as a lucky loser and beating British No. 2 Katie Boulter 6-7, 6-2, 6-1 en route to the fourth round, where German Laura Siegemund beat her 3-6, 2-6.

This year, Sierra has won four of her six grass-court matches, reaching the second round in 's-Hertogenbosch and making it through two rounds of qualifying in Bad Homburg before losing 5-7, 6-4, 4-6 to former World No. 4 Qinwen Zheng.

Sierra was involved in an opening-round epic with Hungarian Anna Bondar on Monday, saving two match points in a gruelling encounter that lasted two hours and 38 minutes.

It will be tough for her against the athleticism of Gauff on Wednesday, but I'm backing her to avoid a heavy defeat with a +5.5 handicap, given the 22-year-old's prior difficulties on this surface.

Set Handicap - Tatjana Maria (+1.5) vs Iva Jovic @ 4/5

In a best-of-three format, we're essentially asking Tatjana Maria to win at least one set here.

Last year's Queen's champion, and a former semi-finalist at Wimbledon (2022), came up trumps in my Monday Betting Tips, beating Yulia Putintseva (6-4, 6-4) in straight sets to land the 2-0 at 21/20.

The 38-year-old has gone big on her favourite surface this season, playing 14 matches on grass prior to her Wimbledon opener, losing just four times, and two of those four defeats came against Grand Slam champions, Madison Keys (Australia Open) and Elena Rybakina (Wimbledon/Australian Open), and another against a former Wimbledon quarter-finalist, Marie Bouzkova.

Wimbledon Odds

Maria's the underdog on Wednesday, though, against World No. 16 and American No. 4 Iva Jovic, who reached the semi-finals of Queen's last month and outclassed Romanian Jaqueline Cristian 7-6, 6-0 in her opening match at Wimbledon.

The 18-year-old looks comfortable on grass, and she's won 12 of her last 14 matches on the surface, albeit several of those in Challenger events/qualifiers.

Jovic will back herself to beat Maria, but the German is a grass-court specialist with mountains of experience, and she won't make things easy for the teenager here. Certainly, I think the veteran can win a set.

Set Betting - Belinda Bencic 2-0 vs Xinyu Wang @ 9/10

I've got a lot of faith in Belinda Bencic on grass, with the Swiss No. 1, 11th seed at this year's Wimbledon, reaching the semi-finals in SW19 last year, losing to eventual champion Iga Swiatek.

The 29-year-old hasn't played any grass-court tournaments prior to Wimbledon this year, but she showed few signs of rustiness in a 6-2, 6-1 demolition job of British wildcard Mika Stojsavljevic on Monday.

Her second-round opponent, Chinese No. 1 and World No. 39 Xinyu Wang, endured a more taxing opening round, battling past Italian Elisabetta Cocciaretto 6-3, 2-6, 6-2.

Wang played a couple of grass-court tournaments in Germany, losing 6-7, 1-6 in the Berlin Open first round to American No. 5 and World No. 22 Keys before reaching the semi-finals in Bad Homburg, where she fell 3-6, 3-6 to Japanese No. 1 and World No. 14 Naomi Osaka in the semi-finals.

The 24-year-old is a capable player on this surface, and I don't expect Bencic to blitz her opponent on Wednesday, but I do think the Swiss star can get the job done in two sets, with six wins from her last seven matches on grass; four of those victories were in straight sets, too.