Hewitt and Berdych could push Federer

Roger Federer is the man to beat once again at Wimbledon, which begins on Monday, but with the Swiss is the obvious favourite at 1/3 (1.33) there is little point backing him at such a short price.

The world No 1 has a good draw and arrives fresh, having taken some time off after his defeat by Rafael Nadal in the final of the French Open. At home on grass and unbeaten on the surface since 2002, the Swiss will join Bjorn Borg as winner of the title on five successive occasions if he is successful a week on Sunday.

And he probably will.

But since he is so short, the value is in the other half of the draw, which is a shame for the likes of Andy Roddick, who would have been the obvious each-way choice had he avoided Federer.

Instead, the draw has given the likes of Nadal, Novak Djokivic and Lleyton Hewitt the chance to reach the final without worrying about beating Federer along the way.

Nadal proved he is still the King of Clay by winning a third straight French Open title but it is asking an awful lot for him to make the final again after his surprise run 12 months ago. He is dangerous, though, and if he gets going, he could be tough to stop. His biggest problem could be a dangerous first-round match with the American, Mardy Fish.

Djokivic is the rising star of the men's tour. A semi-finalist in Paris, he won the Masters Series event in Miami earlier this year, having reached the final in Indian Wells the week before. The young Serb has no real weaknesses and will be very tough to beat, and at 14/1 he is not a bad price.

However, I prefer the chances of Hewitt, the 2002 champion, who in the past couple of months has shown signs of regaining his best form. The Australian is injury free - after a succession of niggles - and he played some great stuff in Hamburg and Paris on what is his weakest surface.

He has a decent draw and if he can get past a likely fourth-round encounter with Djokovic, there is no reason he can't go all the way to the final. Back him each-way at 11/1.

With Andy Murray missing through injury, Britain's campaign is again led by Tim Henman but he is unfortunately well past his best. The likes of Nicolas Mahut, a finalist at Queen's, and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, could have a good run, but of the rest, I like the chances of Tomas Berdych.

The young Czech won the title at Halle on grass - Federer skipped the event he had won for the previous four years - and he has a big game which ought to be suited to the surface. With an excellent draw, he could surprise a few people by making the final, which would be nice for anyone backing him at 33/1.