Olympics Women Tennis Gold Medal Winning Favorites In Rio 2016

World No. 1 Serena Williams and the best-of-the-best in the world of women’s professional tennis will gather in Rio, Brazil for a chance to represent their countries in the 2016 Olympics and compete for the all-important gold medal. Below is a brief tennis betting odds preview and analysis of the players who offer the best chance at winning gold in the 2016 Olympics Women Tennis championship in Rio.

Olympics Women Tennis Gold Medal Winning Favorites In Rio 2016

What: 2016 Olympics Women Tennis Championship Where: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil When: 05-21 August Defending Champ: Serena Williams, U.S.A    

Favorite Olympics Women Tennis Gold Pick: Serena Williams

Like in nearly every major women tennis tournament these days, Serena Williams will be the player to beat, and the reality is that it will be far from easy for her competitors. Williams is coming into the tournament on the back a solid season that has seen her win titles in Rome and most recently in Wimbledon, along with runner-up places in the other two Grand Slams of 2016, the Australian Open and the French Open. Given her absolute dominance of the world circuit since returning from her career-threatening foot injury in 2011, which included not dropping any set en route to her stunning Gold Medal win in the London Olympics of 2012; you’ll be hard done to find anyone more deserving of the Gold in Rio than the 35-year-old Williams.

Favorite Olympics Women Tennis Gold Pick: Angelique Kerber

World No. 2 Angelique Kerber is, on paper, the biggest competitor and threat to Serena’s Rio Gold Award ambitions, given she’s one of the better players in the nation right now. Besides giving a strong show against Serena in the Wimbledon to secure a runner-up position, the 28-year old German claimed her first major title when she upset Serena in the Australian Open this year. Having also successfully defended her Stuttgart title early in the year, there is every reason to believe that she’ll be a force to reckon with in Rio, especially if you additionally consider the manner in which she showed her class against Simona Halep and Venus Williams in the quarter and semi-finals of Wimbledon, respectively. Mind you, in her 2012 Olympics women tennis campaign in London, Kerber had a decent show until losing to then-world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka in the quarter-finals, so it is well within her means to do better now that she is a more experienced player with a polished style of play.

Favorite Olympics Women Tennis Gold Pick: Garbine Muguruza

There are many names worthy of being mentioned in this spot, but the ones worthy of being noted are World No. 4 and reigning French Open champ Garbine Muguruza (Spain), World No. 5 and reigning Shenzhen Champion Agnieszka Radwanska (Poland) and Serena’s sister, Venus Williams of U.SA, who all bring stellar reputations and solid form into Rio. Obviously, it won’t be easy going through 21-time Grand Slam Champion Serena and the up-surging Kerber, but we’ve seen these two top-ranked women lose a number of games this season, so an upset should be within strong realms of possibility in Rio, starting this weekend. And of these longshots, I like Muguruza most, considering the way she upset Serena last year and expertly did it again to win the French Open this season.