Tennis Betting: Australian Open Men’s Preview
Tennis betting fans get their first Grand Slam of the year starting this weekend. Here is your Australian Open men’s preview.
Rafael Nadal, naturally, is atop the Bodog odds at 2/1. Nadal — the top-ranked player on the tour and the No. 1 seed in Oz this weekend — will be gunning for his second career victory at the Australian Open. A year after reaching the semifinals, Nadal earned a victory in 2009. Last season, as the No. 2 seed, he was forced to withdraw in the quarterfinals thanks to a right knee injury. Though he has just one tournament victory in Australia, Nadal is a respectable 25-5 in Australian Open play.
Not surprisingly, Roger Federer is next in line with 7/4 odds to win the Australian Open. If you’re going with pure track record, the Swiss might be your best bet. Federer has four Australian Open titles to his name, including a win last year. He was the top-seed in 2010 and defeated Andy Murray 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(11) to capture yet another Grand Slam title. It was the first time Federer had won the Australian Open since 2007.
Last year’s runner up, Murray, is third on this year’s Australian Open odds at 6/1. That might be giving the Englishman a little too much credit because of last year’s effort, though. Murray has reached the final of a Grand Slam just twice in his career, and he’s still searching for his first career win. He hasn’t been great at the Australian Open, either, going 12-5 over his last five tourneys.
Novak Djokovic is the last top-notch competitor. He has 8/1 odds to win the 2011 Australian Open. The Serbian won the tournament in 2008, defeating a surprisingly impressive Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (Federer and Nadal were knocked out in the semis). Djokovic has reach the quarterfinals in each of the past two years, and is 18-5 lifetime at the Australian Open.
Get your tennis odds and props all season at Bodog
