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The Australian Open Tennis tournament gets underway in Melbourne from the 18th of January.
Who will get there hands on this grand slam title this year?
First there is number one seed & the ever present & brilliant Roger Federer who is aiming for his fourth Australian crown.Next in line is the present champion Rafael Nadal, who is coming back to good form from his injury & cannot be ignored.
Then there’s the ever improving Juan Martin Del Potro who recently won the US Open & is a serious contender.
What about Britain’s Andy Murray who has yet to win a grand slam, could this be his year ?
Finally another player to consider is the consistent Novak Djokovic, who hasn’t been on his best form of late, but cannot be written off.
Best odds for the top five male players for the title are – Roger Federer 3/1 at Extrabet[/url:1f7ogyt2], Rafael Nadal 4/1 at Totesport[/url:1f7ogyt2], Juan Martin Del Potro 11/2 at Expekt[/url:1f7ogyt2], Andy Murray 6/1 at Ladbrokes[/url:1f7ogyt2] & Novak Djokovic 13/2 at Expekt[/url:1f7ogyt2].
Mark
I braved the disappointment of starting last years Aussie Tennis thread
It all worked out in the end and even managed to put up the winner, Nadal, @9/2 if I remember correctly. I love the game and will be taking in as much as possible.Juan Martin Del Potro makes most appeal to me this year @5/1.
Before his US Open win he seemed mentally weak and would more or less chuck in the towel when things started going wrong against the big four, until he beat Federer and Murray in consecutive matches. From then on he was a complete different animal, literally, and he went on to bludgeon his way to US Open glory. He had a few niggly injury problems after Flushing Meadows but he seems fine now. He looked almost back to his best last night against Ljubicic and will take some serious stopping in Melbourne IMO.
Vamos, Del boy!!
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Now that Nikolay Davydenko actually appears to be trying in his matches – he’s been suspected of match-fixing on more than one occasion – I’m prepared to risk a reasonable amount at the general 10/1.
Maran Cilic is also interesting at 53/1.
Now that Nikolay Davydenko actually appears to be trying in his matches – he’s been suspected of match-fixing on more than one occasion – I’m prepared to risk a reasonable amount at the general 10/1.
Maran Cilic is also interesting at 53/1.
I think Verdasco also offers a good value bet at a crazy 50/1 at a few of the top bookmakers – Stan James, Extrabet, Coral & Paddypower.
He’s just thumped Djokovic in the warm up tournament, he likes the surface & he got to the semi’s last year, narrowly getting beat in a classic, to the eventual winner
Nadal.Mark
It’s quite open this year & that’s were you can spot a good value bet.
I think Del Potro has a good chance but there’s not much value now as the
bookies have adjusted their books due to his US Open win.Davydenko & Soderling are coming on strong & both like the surface, but I think the best value bet lies with Verdasco.
He’s just thumped Djokovic in the Aussie warm up tournament, he likes the surface & he narrowly lost out in the semi’s last year in a class, to the eventual winner Nadal.
He a crazy 50/1 with four of the top bookmakers & I’ll be placing a little tenner on him before the odds shrink, as I think he’s more than capable.
Verdasco 50/1 at Stan James[/url:1ahxsnni] ~ William Hill[/url:1ahxsnni] ~ Extrabet[/url:1ahxsnni] ~ Paddypower[/url:1ahxsnni].
I thought it was to good to be true with the 50/1 odds on Verdasco, as all of the four bookmakers have reduced their books to suit & now at 33/1 & 40/1.
Totesport[/url:31nprkyh] are now offering 50/1 on Verdasco surprisingly.
Mark
I started backing Verdasco off the back of last years perfomance and it’s fair to say he was crap for the rest of the season; he seemed to lose focus and go back to his bad old ways. However, he does seem to go well first time out and 50’s would seem very big. This time round though, he has a better looking Djokovic around, a different prospect in Del Potro and a rejuvenated Davydenko to negotiate if he’s to make it pay! Basically, it’s alot tougher this year. Good luck with it though!
I thought it was to good to be true with the 50/1 odds on Verdasco, as all of the four bookmakers have reduced their books to suit & now at 33/1 & 40/1.
Totesport[/url:3sdw1xdt] are now offering 50/1 on Verdasco surprisingly.
Mark
I started backing Verdasco off the back of last years perfomance and it’s fair to say he was crap for the rest of the season; he seemed to lose focus and go back to his bad old ways. However, he does seem to go well first time out and 50’s would seem very big. This time round though, he has a better looking Djokovic around, a different prospect in Del Potro and a rejuvenated Davydenko to negotiate if he’s to make it pay! Basically, it’s alot tougher this year. Good luck with it though!
Whilst I don’t think Verdasco will win it, the point in question is the value & at 50/1 Verdasco is a value bet, especially as there’s no injuries to report, he likes the surface & pushed the eventual winner Nadal in last years semi final.
Mark
Now that the Masters Snooker is over, I can now switch my attention to the Tennis in Australia.
This years tournament is so wide open & very hard to call, as the top two in Federer & Nadal are definately beatable & therefore leaves us with potential elsewhere.
There are probably about eight players who could pick up this grand slam – Federer, Nadal, Del Potro, Djokovic, Murray & three outsiders – Davydenko, Soderling & Verdasco.
So difficult to call, but exciting never the less.
Mark
Roger Federer for me.
The greatest player ever to play the game, in my opinion.
Gambling Only Pays When You're Winning
Some strange performances so far from the bigger players. Federer was very in and out and could have gone 2-1 down at one stage, but rallied and came through easily enough. De Potro dropped a set but also came through easily. No fuss made by Murray or Davydenko – the latter continuing the awesome form he showed in London not long ago. He was VERY impressive.
My lad Del Potro might be carrying a slight wrist injury so I’ll just have to sit and watch him closely before I dive in. He 6’s now and has the easier half of the draw.
Himself aka Shmeeko69
Federer is a slow starter & said that, this would be the most difficult match for him, if he got through until about the 4th round, where he might possibly play Hewitt.
Murray & Davydenko got through quite comfortably & I expect Davydenko to pose a threat in this years tournament.
My outside bet Verdasco had a bit of a struggle & won in four sets.
The big surprise for me was Soderling, getting knocked out in five sets, after being two sets up. He seemed to take his foot of the gas & then couldn’t find another gear when it really mattered.
There will be more twists & turns to come in this tournament & is very difficult to call.
Mark
Well that’s Murray safely through to the 4th round of the Australian. The biggest surprise for me was how easily Clijsters got beat in the ladies, after her US open victory.
Mark
They say "never change your bet", but what if he looks like going lame?
Davydenko got my money @8/1 (bet365) and it’ll take a monstrous effert to stop him in this form. I can’t have my original selection, Del Potro, with his suspect wrist, even though his odds have lengthened to 13/2 since the start! Davydenko has only come in a point and he’s had three virtual walk-overs. Glad I waited.
приедьте в Давиденко!!!
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With both Davydenko (who’s playing wonderfully at the moment) and Cilic (came through a tough match against Del Potro this morning) still running for me I couldn’t be happier. Both Federer and Murray look in decent shape though, so it should be a cracking final week.
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Well, the ever-entertaining Russian gave some cause for concern in edging past Fernando Verdasco – going to a fifth set with a quarter-final against Roger Federer only two days away is never good – but the 3-2 scoreline doesn’t really reflect Davydenko’s dominance.
Once he realised that he wasn’t going to win playing to the Spaniard’s demonic forehand, he breezed in to a 2-0 lead and looked set to wrap up another comfortable victory. But, for some inexplicable reason, he seemed to take his foot off the gas somewhat – perhaps he needed a breather, he does run more than any tennis player I have ever seen – and allowed Verdasco back in to the match. The fifth set went to form, but there were still plenty of ‘squeaky bum’ moments.
He’s still there though and surely has a great chance of toppling Federer for the third consecutive time. Federer was ultimately comfortable in beating Leyton Hewiit in straight sets, but the Australian is nothing like the player he used to be yet was managing to give his victorious opponent one or two things to think sbout in the closing games. Davydenko will force a lot more of the play and ‘Big Rog’ looks potentially vulnerable under pressure.
Marin Cilic now faces Andy Roddick having staved off the attentions of Del Potro and whilst I admire the American’s dogged determination, he could be found out by the big-serving Croat (though that is easy to say when you’re sitting on bets at 53/1 and bigger).
Dodged a bullet there with Del Potro!
Yep, the Davydenko game was a strange one.
He was dominant for the first two sets and then his level seemed to drop just enough to let Verdasco – who hit a bit of form but was, throughout the match, still just as likely to dump one as he was to send one screaming down the line – back into the game.
Davydenko seemed to suffer a bit of doubt and the fact that he hadn’t ever made the QF’s of a slam in his life started to make sense, This was until roughly the fifth game of the fifth set when he seemed to decide that he wasn’t going to wait for Verdasco to hand it to him and take the bull by the horns – which he did impressively. Verdasco didn’t hang about and was, rather unsportingly, halfway to the changing rooms ten seconds later! Some 81 unforced errors compared to 30 odd for Davydenko was just too much to overcome.
I can’t have Roddick being 4/7 favourite over Cilic and I’ll have some of the 11/8 on Bet365.
Davydenko has an early afternoon kick-off against Federer, which is dissappointing as he’ll have to battle the heat again.
Приедьте в Давиденко, трахните Federer веселые швейцарцы!
It all worked out in the end and even managed to put up the winner, Nadal, @9/2 if I remember correctly. I love the game and will be taking in as much as possible.
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