Who’s going to win in Melbourne?
In the history of men’s tennis, there have been few, if any, more intriguing Grand Slam events than the forthcoming Australian Open – to be staged in Melbourne between the 13th and 26th January 2014.
The reason the men’s tournament, in particular, is so fascinating, is that when you look at the big four names, each has his own unique story to tell.
The favourite for the event is, of course, the three-time defending champion Novak Djokovic. The market seldom gets these things wrong and the world’s biggest betting exchange, Betfair, currently has Djokovic down as around a 6-4 favourite. He’s done little wrong of late, but was beaten in the finals of both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open by Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal, respectively.
He deserves to be favourite as Melbourne is, statistically speaking, Djokovic’s favourite tournament. But the man who beat him at Wimbledon has contested the last two finals and will be determined to go one better – and to prove he’s back to full strength after undergoing surgery late last summer on his back.
Murray may well be worthy of a value-based tennis bet at his current price of around 6-1 as he has proved he can beat Djokovic on the big occasion – both at Wimbledon and in the Olympics. But the man who beat Murray at the previous Wimbledon in 2012, veteran Roger Federer, now aged 32, may yet be a dark horse ion the tournament. Federer has won more Grand Slams than any other man in history with 17 – including four Australian Opens.
Then there’s the only man with a chance of ever overtaking Federer’s all-time Grand Slam record, Rafael Nadal, who won in France and the USA this year. Nadal is a 2-1 shot and has won this tournament himself; all in all, it will be a fascinating tournament.