The more it changes the more it stays the same. Tennis handicappers can be excused for hauling out that old saw. When the Australian Open rolled around last year Serena Williams was the heavy favorite and also dragging behind her an equipment bag of questions coming into the tournament. Once again in 2017 punters will have to decide if it will be vintage Serena who takes the court in Melbourne or whether she is due to slide from the pinnacle of the sport.
Williams once again takes up the chase to pass Margaret Court’s all-time record of 24 major titles. She sits at 22 but will need to shake off plenty of rust in pursuit of #23. She struggled at the end of 2016, even getting thumped in a second round match by world number 69 Madison Brengle in which Williams made a staggering 88 unforced errors. And off the court Serena has been concerned with wedding invitations as she recently announced her engagement.
Backers of Williams at 3/1 will find out early if they have wagered well. The Australian Open draw pits her against former world number 7, but oft-injured, Belinda Bencic in the first round. The two have split their only two meetings and Williams carries relatively long odds at 1/7 to prevent losing an opening round match for the first time in her career.
【2017 Australian Open Women’s Singles Tournament Winner Odds】
※ Current Odds Date & Time: January 14, 3:00 a.m. (GMT)
For the first time in years Williams has a legitimate rival to test herself against. At the age of 28 Angelique Kerber is that player. She won her first major in this tournament last year by beating Williams in the finals in three sets. Later in the year she added the U.S. Open title to rise past Serena to world number 1. Williams bested Kerber in the Wimbledon finals and women’s tennis appears to have a true back-and-forth battle at the top of the tables. Then again, will Kerber be able to handle success? She started her 2017 season by bowing out in the second round in a tournament in Sydney. bet365 has posted Kerber at 7/2 in Melbourne.
Beyond Kerber and Williams, the Australian Open women’s field will take some sorting out. Potential contenders Victoria Azarenka, Petra Kvitova and Madison Keys will all be missing the year’s first major. Dominika Cibulkova, the world number 6, was a finalist in Melbourne in 2014 but went out in the first round last year; she is 25/1 in 2017. Karolina Pliskova won the Aukland event to kick off the year and climbed to her highest ranking ever at world number 5. She made her first Grand Slam final at the 2016 U.S. Open – it was also the first time she made in past the third round in a major event in her career. If the 24-year old is indeed on a upward career arc winning tickets will pay 7/1.
Agnieszka Radwanska, the world number 3, is offered at long 22/1 odds. Seeded third in Melbourne, she has made the semi-finals twice here. So far this year Radwanska has reached the quarterfinal at the Shenzhen Open and the final in the Sydney International. If either or both the top seeds stumble Radwanska could deliver a big payday.
In the Men’s draw the familiar top two seeds are back and heavy favorites again, Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic. Last year Djokovic was coming into 2016 having won 31 of his previous 32 matches and an impregnable world number one. This year Andy Murray rolled into the new year having won five consecutive tournaments and having supplanted the Serbian superstar as world number one. So who have you got?
The Murray-Djokovic conundrum has already been complicated by the Qatar Open final in Doha in the year’s opening tournament. Djokovic outlasted Murray in an epic three-set final 6-3, 5-7, 6-4. It was the first match Murray had lost since September, snapping a 28-match winning streak; he has never beaten his top rival after losing the first set and now carries an 11-25 lifetime record against Djokovic. That tune-up is enough for bookie bet365 to give Djokoivc the slimmest of betting edges at 6/4; Murray is listed at 13/8.
【2017 Australian Open Men’s Singles Tournament Winner Odds】
※ Current Odds Date & Time: January 14, 3:00 a.m. (GMT)
Murray and Djokovic are prohibitive favorites but it is possible to make a case against the game’s two top stars. Murray has made the finals in the Australian Open five times and walked off the court the loser each time. Djokovic endured his worst slump in years at the end of 2016, losing early round matches and piling up warnings for breaking rackets and other breaches of etiquette. And historically the Australian Open has been the most unpredictable of the majors.
Tennis bettors looking to avoid the chalk picks have plenty of intriguing options. Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, the old warhorses, are ready for the 2017 campaign seemingly healthy and raring to go after injury-ravaged 2016 seasons. If Federer reawakens the echoes he will pay backers 20/1 and a return to form for Nadal will reward supporters at 14/1.
Stan Wawrinka is the third favorite at 12/1 and the 31-year old Swiss master has solidified his ranking as the third best player in the world. He has won a major in each of the past three seasons and has elbowed his way into handicappers’ consideration as “tennis’s great latecomer.” Wawrinka won the last major, the U.S. Open, by sweeping the last three sets after losing the first set in the finals against Djokovic. Wawrinka has a lifetime mark of only 17-61 against the Big Four but he has been prevailing with increased regularity of late.
It still feels too early for a changing of the guard in the men’s game but long shot players can take a chance on hometown comer, 21-year old Nick Kyrgios. A knee injury has pushed the exciting Kyrgios’s odds down to 40-1 but the World No. 13 insists nothing is amiss as he enters his first round match against Gastao Elias as a 1/12 favorite.
