Swiss is hit and miss

Published on Sunday 13 May 2007 01:13

TENNIS king Roger Federer's crown may be slipping according to Ladbrokes, who have pushed out the Swiss genius's odds to 5-2, from 7-4, to win the French Open, following his defeat by Filippo Volandri in Rome.

The new clay court chief, Rafael Nadal, is cut to 1- 2, from 4-6, while Federer is now 5-1 not to win any of the three remaining Grand Slams tournaments in 2007. That doesn't look a good bet.

Big task for Sanchez

A COUPLE of interesting football bets this week. Lawrie Sanchez is 2-1 with Ladbrokes to outlast Chris Coleman at Fulham, but the former Northern Ireland boss is just 4-11 to fall short of his predecessor's mark.

"Sanchez arrives at Fulham, in a full time capacity, with a big reputation given the miracles he's worked with Northern Ireland," said Ladbrokes spokesman, Nick Weinberg. "But he will struggle due to squad limitations and his chairman's apparent unwillingness to splash the cash."

William Hill offer the following odds on Sanchez's replacement: Jimmy Nicholl 4-1, Nigel Worthington 9-2, Iain Dowie, 7-1, Danny Wilson 8-1, Jim Magilton 12-1, Gerry Armstrong 20-1.

Bookmark this one

YOU can bet on just about anything these days, as William Hill prove by offering odds on the biannual Man Booker International Prize which will be awarded in June.

According to Hill's website, Salman Rushdie is a 6-1 shot for the prize, behind only 5-1 favourite Philip Roth.

Towering writers of contemporary fiction they are, but given that the inaugural prize two years ago saw the judges honour a lesser fancied writer in Albanian Ismail Kadare, an outside bet looks tempting again this year.

In which case, Mexico's Carlos Fuentes, one of the trailblazers of the Latin American "boom" of the 1960s, could be worth a punt at odds of 21-1.

Avoid Taioseach bets

THE election season is far from over and after Scotland and France, political punters' attention will now switch to Ireland where the race is really too close to call.

Paddy Power is offering odds on a whole range of bets, including next Taioseach, excluding any caretaker holder of the office.

Bertie Ahern is the slight favourite at 10-11, but the fact that his main rival Enda Kenny is 11-10 shows just how close the vote will be. Avoid.