Author: Anton Johan
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This week the 2012 Australian Open kicked off in Melbourne, the first of
the year's four grand slam tennis tournaments, and one which always attracts the
world's top tennis players from Britain and abroad, as well as the world's most
avid Australian Open betting fans.
And there sure are loads of talented players to bet on this year. Unfortunately,
few of them are British. In fact, in the first round of the Australian Open, all
of Britain's contenders were unceremoniously dispatched under the hot Aussie sun
except one - British number 1, Andy Murray.
Andy Murray is Britain's Sole Aussie Open Hope
On day one, the likes of Elena Baltacha, Heather Watson, Laura Robson, Anne
Keothavong and James Ward were all eliminated from the prestigious tournament,
leaving Britain's only hope of celebrating an Australian Open men's singles
title winner in the hands of the more than capable Andy Murray.
If Murray feels any pressure of such an undertaking, he hasn't shown it - yet.
Consider how he 'flew' into the third round of the tournament after outplaying
Frenchman, Edouard Roger-Vasselin in straight sets. It took the Scottish native
just 23 minutes to secure the first set, and just under two hours to chalk up
his 6-1 6-4 6-4 victory.
Next time out on Saturday, the 'swinging Scotsman' will take on another
Frenchman, Michael Llodra. Ranked number 4 in the world, Murray will be expected
to play as well as he did against Roger-Vasselin. In that match, Murray got 68
per cent of his first serves in, which is crucial in today's 'serve and volley'
world of professional tennis.
Perhaps 2012 will be His Year to Win a Grand Slam
Of course, as good a start as the Brit has got off to in the 2012 Australian
Open, it won't be lost on tennis fans that he is coming off what can only be
described as a drought when it comes to grand slam tournaments. Known unkindly
as the 'Grand Slam choker' in many circles, Andy Murray has yet to win one of
the majors, but perhaps 2012 will be his year.
Murray has the uncomfortable distinction of having lost three finals in major
tournaments in recent years, including this time last year, when world No. 1
Novak Djokovic beat him to snatch the Australian Open. But a year has gone by,
and by all accounts his coach and former world No. 1 Ivan Lendl is confident he
can win this year's Aussie Open.
In terms of Australian Open betting, leading UK land and online sportsbook
William Hill is offering all the latest lines and odds. In terms of Andy
Murray Australian Open odds, he is the 5/1 third favorite to win the
epic tournament.
2012 Australian Open Winner Odds at William Hill
EVS Novak Djokovic
7/2 Roger Federer
5/1 Andy Murray
6/1 Rafael Nadal
16/1 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
18/1 Juan Martin del Potro
33/1 Tomas Berdych
40/1 Bernard Tomic
40/1 Milos Raonic
50/1 David Ferrer
80/1 Gael Monfils
100/1 Janko Tipsarevic
125/1 Alexandr Dolgopolov
125/1 John Isner
125/1 Richard Gasquet
150/1 Lleyton Hewitt
150/1 Stanislas Wawrinka
200/1 Kei Nishikori
200/1 Kevin Anderson
200/1 Julien Benneteau
250/1 Nicolas Almagro
300/1 Feliciano Lopez
300/1 Ivo Karlovic
300/1 Alejandro Falla
300/1 Philipp Kohlschreiber
500/1 Frederico Gil
500/1 Juan Ignacio Chela
500/1 Lukas Lacko
500/1 Michael Llodra
500/1 Mikhail Kukushkin
500/1 Nicolas Mahut
500/1 Yen-Hsun Lu
Posted by Anton Johan at 13:46 on 19 January 2012
