Daily tips for June 24

Tennis for June 24

Wimbledon men’s singles round 1: Lleyton Hewitt v Stanislas Wawrinka

More than a decade has passed since Lleyton Hewitt’s ultimate triumph at Wimbledon, and the little Aussie battler continues to front up year after year. While Hewitt would undoubtedly have preferred an easier first round draw, these are the kind of matches which keep him going these days – a showstopper on a stadium court. Wawrinka would have groaned when he saw this draw, especially after the tennis Hewitt produced at Queen's just over a week ago. The 32-year-old made a mockery of his current ranking of 70, schooling Grigor Dimitrov, Sam Querrey and, most impressively of all, Juan Martin Del Potro, before losing to Marin Cilic in three sets in the last four.

Wawrinka reached the Madrid Masters final last month and he's a new man under the guidance of Magnus Norman, winning an epic five setter against Richard Gasquet from two sets down to make the quarter-finals of the French Open. With his sharp serve and sweetly struck single-hander, he has a fine game for grass and a few years ago he reached the fourth round at Wimbledon, giving Andy Murray quite a scare before losing in five sets. In their previous three meetings, all have cleared their respective game lines. Most recently, they met at Miami, with Wawrinka winning a tight two-setter 6-4 7-5. Their one previous best of five-set match came at Davis Cup in 2011 on grass, with Wawrinka winning 4-6 6-4 6-7 6-4 6-3 (52 games).

Suggested bet: +40.5 games (2.5 units @ $1.83) LOSE, Wawrinka 3-1 sets (one unit @ $4.00) LOSE, Wawrinka 3-2 sets (0.5 units @ $6.00) LOSE

Other tips

Fabio Fognini WIN v Jurgen Melzer LOSE

Fernando Verdasco v Xavier Malisse WIN LOSE

Ernests Gulbis 3-0 v Edouard Roger-Vasselin WIN

Simona Halep WIN v Olga Govortsova WIN

Garbine Muguruza -4.5 v Anne Keothavong WIN

NRL (R15) for June 24

Gold Coast Titans v Melbourne Storm, Skilled Park, Monday, June 24, 7pm

With Origin II looming, both sides have key players missing but it’s the Storm who’ll be behind the eight-ball on the Gold Coast tonight as fifth hosts second. Without Origin stars Billy Slater, Cameron Smith, Ryan Hoffman and Cooper Cronk – the half-back almost missed the Knights clash – coach Craig Bellamy has been forced to reshuffle his line-up. Regular #6 Gareth Widdop moves to full-back, Brett Finch once again takes over at #7, Slade Griffin dons the #9, Tohu Harris starts in the back row and Mahe Fonua gets a gig on the bench. The Storm seem to have bounced back after fans feared a three-game winless streak would bring down their 2013 season. Last week they produced a Houdini-like effort to escape with a two-point victory against the Knights.

Perhaps this season’s biggest surprise packets, the Gold Coast continue to prove the doubters wrong, with under-rated halves pairing Aidan Sezer and Albert Kelly leading their team to a very respectable seven wins from 13 matches. Along the way, they’ve accounted for some of the NRL’s top talent, defeating the likes of Manly, Canberra and North Queensland. In Cairns last week, Gold Coast even pushed the Rabbitohs to the brink, ultimately finishing six-point losers to the NRL leaders. Nate Myles has been replaced in the starting front row by Luke Douglas, Mark Minichiello returns in place of Greg Bird, Mark Ioane returns to the bench and utility Luke O’Dwyer has been named in jersey #18.

Suggested bet: Gold Coast -7.5 (four units @ $1.72) LOSE (18-12)

MLB for June 24

Texas Rangers (43-32, 21-17 away) @ St Louis Cardinals (47-28, 22-15 home), Busch Stadium, St Louis, MS, Monday, June 24, 10.10am

Two of the best records in Major League Baseball go on the line at Busch Stadium for Sunday night baseball as the Cardinals host the Rangers. Nick Tepesch’s rookie season for Texas has been a little rough as the righty is 3-6 with a 4.84 ERA. He is in an awful stretch right now giving up 17 runs and 19 hits over his last three starts against Oakland, Cleveland, and Toronto. Tepesch has had three road starts where he has allowed two earned runs or less, but he’s also allowed four earned runs or more in three other starts. The Texas starter has shown good control walking just five batters in his last five starts.

Adam Wainwright is 10-4 with a 2.37 ERA for the Cardinals this year. He uncharacteristically gave up four runs last time out against the weak-hitting Cubs. Wainwright had previously allowed just three total earned runs over three starts. The righty made one previous interleague start this season giving up three runs and 12 hits in eight innings pitched against the Royals. Wainwright’s control has been impeccable, going walk-free in three of his last five starts. He didn’t walk anyone in his first four starts of the season.

Suggested bet: Rangers WIN (2.5 units @ $2.35) WIN, game total +7.5 (1.5 units @ $1.95) LOSE (2-1)

Other tips

IL: Astros @ Cubs +9 $1.91 WIN (6-14)

IL: Pirates @ Angels +8 $2.05 WIN (10-9)

AL: Twins WIN $2.30 @ Indians WIN (5-3)

AL: Orioles @ Blue Jays WIN $1.65 WIN (5-13)

AL: Rays @ Yankees -9 $1.94 WIN (3-1)

AL: White Sox @ Royals +8 $1.91 WIN (6-7)

AL: Athletics WIN $1.67 @ Mariners LOSE (3-6)

NL: Rockies WIN $2.15 @ Nationals WIN (7-6)

NL: Reds @ Diamondbacks -9 $1.94 WIN (4-2)

NL: Marlins WIN $2.75 @ Giants WIN (7-2)

NL: Dodgers @ Padres WIN $1.60 LOSE (3-1)

* Prices with thanks to Centrebet, correct at time of publication – for most people gambling is an exciting and fun recreational pursuit. For others it can become a problem with devastating consequences for them, their families and friends. We want you to enjoy your gambling experience. We want you to stay in control of your gambling and not allow your gambling to control you.