There are only a handful of guys capable of winning the Australian Open in any given year but that doesn't stop a bolter from getting to the final. Over the past few years we've seen Baghdatis, Gonzalez and Tsonga ride the wave of crowd support through to the final so I'm looking for a couple of guys at good odds, who are in good form, and hopefully will go one better. Gilles Simon (can you be a bolter when you're ranked 7 in the world?!) looks great value at $41. Last year, he beat Djokovic, Federer twice, and Nadal in Madrid, where he had the Spanish crowd against him as well. So he looks well capable of going deep into the tournament, so long as he doesn't run into his bogeyman Murray, who repeatedly pantsed him in '08. Another guy I'm liking the look of is Fernando Verdasco. I just had a sneaky fiver on him at $151, but you're more likely to get him at around (only!) $126 with the TAB's. I like the cut of his jib (price).
Onto the big four now; Nadal, Federer, Murray and Djokovic. I've already had a piece of Djokovic as $8 seems way over the odds for the defending champ. Nadal never seems to be at his top at this early stage of the year so the $5 on him seems about right, but I'd be inclined not to take it. Federer won Kooyong to warm up for this and it needs to be remembered that he was out of sorts/had niggling injuries when he was dumped out by the Djoker last year. I'd say that he is a deserving favourite for this year's event. Murray...I think there is a Grand Slam coming his way at some point but I would be laying him in this. Until yesterday, he was listed as equal favourite with Federer, but that $3.50 is too short for me. I'd be taking Federer over Murray as I just don't think Murray quite has what it takes yet to win through a tournament where it's best of five sets, especially if the draw does him no favours. All this being said, any of these four guys could potentially win the 2009 Australian Open.
Other guys just on the cusp in betting include Nalbandian and Tsonga, both at $21. I would never bet on Nalbandian to win a Grand Slam. He gets himself into too many ridiculous situations, seemingly cruising to a straight sets victory and then, all of a sudden, it's deep in the fifth. Tsonga has injury concerns and is no longer a bolter. Just ask Baghdatis and Gonzo...it's harder when you're not the underdog.
At this point, I'd love nothing more than to talk passionately about the Aussie assault on the Open, but for obvious reasons, I won't be saying too much. I'm looking forward to seeing Bernard Tomic continue his development, but I fear Channel 7 will be more interested in showing Lleyton Hewitt's decline.
And now to Channel 7, the bane of my fucking life. You've already fucked up the summer of tennis thus far by stupidly trying to cover three tournaments at once. Why not give at least one of those tournaments to Foxsports you greedy fuckers? But that's okay, I didn't really want to see the first set and a half of the inaugural Brisbane International final. Not to mention missing the first point after every ad break. What the fuck is with that? Thankfully for tennis fans, Foxsports shows what 7 doesn't want of the Australian Open, which is usually a pretty good collection of matches, and gives us a break from the half-assed crew of cretins at 7. But to see the big match-ups and all the Aussies getting bundled out of the tournament we'll have to put up with this:
I have a really cool job, even though I'm a retard who knows nothing about tennis...
Onto the big four now; Nadal, Federer, Murray and Djokovic. I've already had a piece of Djokovic as $8 seems way over the odds for the defending champ. Nadal never seems to be at his top at this early stage of the year so the $5 on him seems about right, but I'd be inclined not to take it. Federer won Kooyong to warm up for this and it needs to be remembered that he was out of sorts/had niggling injuries when he was dumped out by the Djoker last year. I'd say that he is a deserving favourite for this year's event. Murray...I think there is a Grand Slam coming his way at some point but I would be laying him in this. Until yesterday, he was listed as equal favourite with Federer, but that $3.50 is too short for me. I'd be taking Federer over Murray as I just don't think Murray quite has what it takes yet to win through a tournament where it's best of five sets, especially if the draw does him no favours. All this being said, any of these four guys could potentially win the 2009 Australian Open.
Other guys just on the cusp in betting include Nalbandian and Tsonga, both at $21. I would never bet on Nalbandian to win a Grand Slam. He gets himself into too many ridiculous situations, seemingly cruising to a straight sets victory and then, all of a sudden, it's deep in the fifth. Tsonga has injury concerns and is no longer a bolter. Just ask Baghdatis and Gonzo...it's harder when you're not the underdog.
At this point, I'd love nothing more than to talk passionately about the Aussie assault on the Open, but for obvious reasons, I won't be saying too much. I'm looking forward to seeing Bernard Tomic continue his development, but I fear Channel 7 will be more interested in showing Lleyton Hewitt's decline.
And now to Channel 7, the bane of my fucking life. You've already fucked up the summer of tennis thus far by stupidly trying to cover three tournaments at once. Why not give at least one of those tournaments to Foxsports you greedy fuckers? But that's okay, I didn't really want to see the first set and a half of the inaugural Brisbane International final. Not to mention missing the first point after every ad break. What the fuck is with that? Thankfully for tennis fans, Foxsports shows what 7 doesn't want of the Australian Open, which is usually a pretty good collection of matches, and gives us a break from the half-assed crew of cretins at 7. But to see the big match-ups and all the Aussies getting bundled out of the tournament we'll have to put up with this:
I have a really cool job, even though I'm a retard who knows nothing about tennis... 
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