by Renee Israel
The 2012 Barcelona Open ATP tennis championship is in
progress, with local hero Rafael Nadal the top seed and British professional
Andy Murray the second seed.
However, this year the World No 1 player Novak Djokovic and No 3 player Roger
Federer will not be participating in the Barcelona Open.
Nadal has come from his eighth straight Monte Carlo win and is full of
confidence. He also has history in his favour at the Barcelona Open. Since 2003
only Spaniards have won this ATP tennis championship, Nadal having won six
times. A fair number of times the final has been played between two Spanish
players.
Speaking at the pre-match press conference Nadal said about his Monte Carlo
win that ended his seven time losing streak to Djokovic, "It was crucial to
finally win a tournament again. But obviously beating Djokovic was mentally very
important."
Nadal Seeks Another Win on Home Soil
However, Nadal is not chasing Djokovic's No 1 ranking. His objective is to
play well in the Barcelona Open in front of his home crowd.
With Djokovic and Federer out of the picture, Murray's chances of winning
have improved. But Murray is looking at the Barcelona Open as a stepping stone
to the French Open in May. He wants to use this event to get his rhythm set on
clay courts and is now training under Ivan Lendl, who has been a past winner
here.
During the press conference Murray also said that the London Olympics being
held in Wimbledon would be the biggest event for him this year.
There are several other players in contention at the Barcelona Open ATP
tennis championship. Top most among them is David Ferrer, also from Spain. On
three previous occasions Ferrer has reached the final, only to lose to Nadal.
Ferrer is seeded third. There are several other Spanish players in the fray.
All the UK white listed online betting sites offer markets for the Barcelona
Open ATP tennis championship event. These include in-play betting, match coupons
and outright winner markets. Bet365 generally offers great odds, but it would be
prudent to shop around at other online betting sites before placing wagers.
2012 Barcelona Open Odds at Bet365
Rafael Nadal is the Barcelona Open favourite at Bet365 online with odds of
3/10. For marginal bettors this will hardly bring in any dividends. They would
do well to choose between Andy Murray at 7/1 and David Ferrer at 8/1. Thereafter
the odds become really long. The next two are the Spaniards Nicolas Almagro at
16/1 and Fernando Verdasco at 33/1.
