One of our outsider tips to win the Australian Open was upset in the first round - Robin Soderling. He seems to do well against the better players but has a mind explosion against lower ranked opponents. We'll have to live and learn from that experience.
But two others, Russians Davydenko and Dementieva, are still there. Should one of those win their respective tournaments, we've done quite well.
The following press release was from the weekend, which means it's a little outdated. It does, however, show that there's been plenty of money floating around. It also shows for whom.
For today's matches, there's not a lot of value around. But Bernard Tomic is at $6.70 to beat Marin Cilic. Ignore the rankings. Tomic is at 289 in the world, while Cilic is 14th. But Tomic has had good wins in the last month, including the scalps of Novak Djokovic and Radek Stepanek in warm up tournaments. He's not without a chance, particularly with the home crowd behind him.
In other games, Viktor Troicki is a player rising in the rankings and comes up against Florian Mayer who comes off the back of a 2 sets to love comeback win in the first round. Troicki is at $1.47 and should win, regardless of how pumped Mayer is.
Bet of the day for mine is Florent Serra to beat Jarkko Nieminen at $1.68. It's better than bank interest, that one! Serra has a 4-1 record against Nieminen who seems to have struggled to get past the first round of most tournaments of late, accounting for his falling world ranking.
TENNIS: BAGHDATIS BACKED FROM $151 TO $51
Marcos Baghdatis has been heavily backed to enjoy another good run at this year’s Australian Open following his win in Sydney.
Baghdatis, who opens his campaign on Tuesday against Paolo Lorenzi, has shortened from $151 last week to $51 at Sportingbet Australia.
Sportingbet Australia CEO Michael Sullivan said the Cypriot was very popular with punters in Sydney last week and the money had also arrived for a shock Australian Open win.
“Baghdatis was well backed against Lleyton Hewitt in the quarters in Sydney and punters rallied behind him in his semi final and final win as well,” Sullivan said.
“We did bet as much as $331 when markets were posted a couple of months ago but the real interest has come since he showed he was in top form in Sydney.”
“We took one bet of $66,000 to $1000 and he has been as popular as any other player.”
Sullivan said all the punter interest had been away from pre tournament favourites Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray.
“Punters are certainly looking for value with many thinking the big three are still some way off top form,” he said.
“There has been good money for Novak Djokovic who has shortened from $9.00 to $6.50 and for US Open winner Juan Martin Del Potro.
“Of the roughies, there has been good money for Fernando Verdasco, Marin Cilic and Robin Soderling.”
Showing posts with label tennis picks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tennis picks. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Australian Open tennis start list
There is no doubt that Roger Federer and Raphael Nadal will start favourites for the Australian Open.
It's interesting to see that Juan Martin Del Potro is currently nestled between the two in terms of favouritism stakes.
Granted, it's always hard to go past a champion and you'll be getting better than even money on Federer. The media are much more quiet than they were last year when the Fed's pre-event results were just as poor as they are this year.
I guess they're not quite as keen to have mud on their face in case he again finishes the year as the world's top-ranked player.
But let's look at form. Del Potro is fresh from a big win but hasn't played the traditional warm up events. That makes him somewhat of an unknown quantity and difficult to back.
Slide down the list to Nikolay Davydenko. He's the form player, coming from his masters win late last year and his win in last week's warm up event, where he came back from a bagel down in the first set to defeat Raffa.
It's always difficult to bet on Davydenko. In the big money events, he's likely to come out and surprise everyone, yet he's equally able to "throw" - whether intentional or not - his first round match. But at 10/1, he's worth a small investment.
The other one is Robin Soderling. The Swede broke a 12-match losing streak against Federer in Abu Dhabi and has beaten Nadal two out of their last three encounters. He's not yet at the point where he'll consistently win Grand Slams and word is he's not overly liked by the players. But he is erratically capable of anything.
At 25/1, Soderling is a tall man with a big serve and he likes the Melbourne surface. At the odds, he's well worth an investment.
In the women's event, Kim Clijsters (3/1) looks hard to beat, especially if Justine Henin is ruled out. It's not smart to totally eliminate the Williams sisters, particularly Serena who as world number 1 will start favourite to win the event.
But Clijsters is the form player - looking fit and happy.
For those looking for an outsider, Elena Dementieva fires up at 14/1. There was a time last year when she strung together more than 10 games on the trot and was the world's form player, until she fell heavily to American giant killer Melanie Oudin.
It's interesting to see that Juan Martin Del Potro is currently nestled between the two in terms of favouritism stakes.
Granted, it's always hard to go past a champion and you'll be getting better than even money on Federer. The media are much more quiet than they were last year when the Fed's pre-event results were just as poor as they are this year.
I guess they're not quite as keen to have mud on their face in case he again finishes the year as the world's top-ranked player.
But let's look at form. Del Potro is fresh from a big win but hasn't played the traditional warm up events. That makes him somewhat of an unknown quantity and difficult to back.
Slide down the list to Nikolay Davydenko. He's the form player, coming from his masters win late last year and his win in last week's warm up event, where he came back from a bagel down in the first set to defeat Raffa.
It's always difficult to bet on Davydenko. In the big money events, he's likely to come out and surprise everyone, yet he's equally able to "throw" - whether intentional or not - his first round match. But at 10/1, he's worth a small investment.
The other one is Robin Soderling. The Swede broke a 12-match losing streak against Federer in Abu Dhabi and has beaten Nadal two out of their last three encounters. He's not yet at the point where he'll consistently win Grand Slams and word is he's not overly liked by the players. But he is erratically capable of anything.
At 25/1, Soderling is a tall man with a big serve and he likes the Melbourne surface. At the odds, he's well worth an investment.
In the women's event, Kim Clijsters (3/1) looks hard to beat, especially if Justine Henin is ruled out. It's not smart to totally eliminate the Williams sisters, particularly Serena who as world number 1 will start favourite to win the event.
But Clijsters is the form player - looking fit and happy.
For those looking for an outsider, Elena Dementieva fires up at 14/1. There was a time last year when she strung together more than 10 games on the trot and was the world's form player, until she fell heavily to American giant killer Melanie Oudin.
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