Australian open tennis 2009

AUSTRALIAN OPEN - the Final weekend

It's here at last, after 2 weeks of blistering heat and (at times) blistering tennis the mens and womens finals are upon us. Jake Norton and Nick Tedeschi give us their thoughts on the winners and the final.

It really is all to play for with none of the possible final games looking to be totally one sided. Verdasco has show exceptional form and may even trouble the number 1 and 2 seeds.

AUSTRALIAN OPEN - DAY 10 PREVIEW

Jake Norton

Carla Suarez Navarro vs. Elena Dementieva
Women's Singles - Quarterfinal

Dementieva has been on fire, and potentially the best supported player in the women's winner market: last matched at 4.10 after 28.0 was traded in early betting. Accordingly, she's favoured to beat Suarez Navarro, but backers can get no better than 1.24 at this juncture.

Spaniard Suarez Navarro is the giant-killer of the '09 Open, having lost just one set to date - to Venus Williams. With this in mind, the 4.90 in the match odds market here looks a great price to back, with the thought of laying at a lower price should the youngster continue her great form.

Svetlana Kuznetsova vs. Serena Williams
Women's Singles - Quarterfinal

Second-seed Serena Williams has breezed into this quarterfinal, and has enjoyed being the punters' top elect throughout betting. That said, a first-round three-setter aside, Kuznetsova's path - which includes the fourth-round withdrawal of opponent Jie Zheng after just five games - into this match has also been a relatively calm one.

These two tour veterans go into this stoush having only played thrice previously, with Williams boasting a brace of victories and the Kuznetsova one, so no evident upper hand exists. With this in mind, the 3.55 on offer to back the Russian represents value. Having a hat-trick of opens up her sleeve though, at 1.38 Williams looks typically hard to beat, and punters agree.

Fernando Verdasco vs. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Men's Singles - Quarterfinal

These two men have never met one another in a competitive professional match, so boldly selecting could represent folly. Tsonga goes in 1.58 favourite, but after defeating the hitherto hot Andy Murray, Verdasco - a 2.68 chance with punters on the change - should be ignored at one's peril.

A good one for getting the early feel of the match and betting in-play.

Rafael Nadal vs. Gilles Simon
Men's Singles - Quarterfinal

Following the uncharacteristically uninspiring form of Roger Federer, withdrawal of Novak Djokovic and fourth-round shocker by Andy Murray, no.1 seed Nadal has been installed favourite by Betfair punters for the first time since Open betting began.

Given the confidence shown by punters in the Spaniard, it would be difficult to see him being beaten, and layers are accordingly cautious - offering no better than 1.12 to prospective backers. Keep in mind though, that Simon won the last encounter between the two, in a Masters semi-final in October; the 9.00 could thus represent value, and a trading opportunity.

Preview of Day 3 at the Open

Lleyton Hewitt's inglorious first-round exit from the Australian Open leaves just six native players still in the either singles tournament collectively. Two of these - new national hero Bernard Tomic, and Aussie-cum-Serb-cum-Aussie Jelena Dokic - feature in the evening session on Rod Laver Arena. Jake Norton tells us more.

Gold Coast teenager Tomic caused a boilover on Monday, when he defeated Italian Potito Starace in four sets after being matched at a high price of 8.0 in-play. Tonight, the local takes on Luxembourgian world no. 87 Gilles Muller. After his first-round victory over the seeded Feliciano Lopez, punters have installed Muller a 1.31 favourite to do the job again; Tomic a 3.9 outsider. However, having endured a four-and-a-half-hour five-set thriller (16-14 in the fifth) in utterly stifling conditions, Muller does appear vulnerable despite his clear rankings advantage. With this in mind, backing Tomic prior to play opening and looking for a solid start from the youngster, in the hope of trading to lock in a profit mid-match, looks a more than feasible outcome.

Dokic's hopes, by comparison, may not be so optimistic. Her first-round win was not necessarily less impressive than that of her second-round opponent Anna Chakvetadze, but the Russian 17th seed must be favoured on the back of consistently impressive form. At 1.55 to back in the match odds market (Dokic is 2.7), Chakvetadze to win appears the on-paper value.

Elsewhere, Roger Federer takes on Evgeny Korolev on centre court in what sees the Swiss champ a prohibitive 1.03 head-to-head favourite. This is obviously not the greatest of value, but the 1.36 on offer on a Federer 3-0 victory - given his ascendancy over the Russian qualifier - in the set betting market, is. A 36% return is not to be sneezed at and can be backed with confidence.

Jake's tips for Wednesday 21.01.09

Back Bernard Tomic in the match odds at 3.90+ pre-play, in anticipation of an in-play trading opportunity.

Back Anna Chakvetadze in the match odds market at 1.50 or better.

Back Roger Federer 3-0 (v Evgeny Korolev) at 1.36+ in the set betting market.

Good luck and happy punting.

First grand slam of the year

The Australian open tennis tournament is the first grand slam event of the year. From 19 January - 1 February 2009, Melbourne Park Stadium will play host to all the top ranked tennis players in world tennis. The Australian open is a notoriously tough event, with searing temperatures often reaching 40 degrees and one of tennis's most coveted prizes, a grand slam title, up for grabs.

The Australian open tennis mens event has all the makings of an outstanding contest although some people are saying that it's really a contest between 4 players. The big 4 - Roger Federer, Raphael Nadal, Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic are all in contention but then no one can be ruled out in this contest and players such as Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Juan Martin Del Potro, Gilles Simon and Andy Roddick have everything to play for.

The Australian open womens event is no less interesting; with Maria Sharipova having pulled out leaving a vacant title and a field of strong determined players eager to take her place. Venus Williams and Serena Williams are the favourites in this competition with Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic following close behind with excellent odds for an upset.

As always this event comes around quickly and before you know it we are already talking about the new Australian open champion and looking towards the second grand slam of the year the French Open. With the Australian open prize money set at $20,000,000 for 2009 it is set to be a spectacular event.

The draw will be released on the 16th of January 2009. The Australian Open Website will have full draw sheets from the five main draw tournaments, the four junior tournaments and the wheelchair tournament.

First Serb still a winner

 

Novak Djokovic could be worth siding with in Australian Open bets as he seeks to defend his title, writes Andy Morris.

The exciting Serb with the big serve will be well backed leading up to the tournament, many punters likely to trust him with their Australian Open bets on the back of his dominant displays in Melbourne last year.

Djokovic adapted superbly to the new surface, which seemed to give him the opportunity to play his dominant groundstrokes and his considerable speed.

Those who had plumped for Roger Federer with their Australian Open betting last year saw their man downed in the semi-finals by the eventual champion, who beat the Swiss ace at his own game in certain respects.

Australian Open Tennis Odds

Double chance of a Williams success

Serena and Venus Williams are favourites in Australian Open odds, with their Eastern European rivals available at attractive odds, writes Andy Morris.

As far as the market is concerned at this stage, the organisers can etch the name Williams onto the trophy and just leave the christian name to be put in after the final.

It would not, of course, be the first time Serena's name would appear on the trophy - she won in 2003, 2005 and 2007. The closest her older sister has come was in 2003 when she lost to Serena in the final.