2010 Australian Open Betting Favorites
Monday, January 11th, 2010
Tennis returns.
The 2010 Australian Open promises to deliver all the action and excitement of Grand Slam tennis starting on January 18th before concluding with the finals on January 31st at the Melbourne Tennis Stadium in Flinders Park.
There are four major international Grand Slam tournaments held each year; the Australian Tennis Open, the French Tennis Open in Paris, Wimbledon in London and the US Tennis Open in New York. With the often extreme summer temperatures of Australia, the Australian Tennis Open is regarded as one of the most physically demanding for players.
The Australian Open is important in many ways, not least of which is because it is the first Grand Slam tennis tournament of the year. And all eyes will be on French phenom Rafael Nadal as he attempts to defend the very title he won here last year.
Another guy to look out for at the 2010 Australian Open is of course, Roger Federer, who will be looking to put his 2009 breakdown behind him. He will need to win in Melbourne if he wishes reassert his supremacy in men’s singles tennis.
Other notable players to watch out for include Novak Djokovic. After finishing last season with the Masters Cup title under his belt, Djokovic will come in the Australian Open brimming with confidence.
We also have Andy Murray, easily the most improved player of the season. He will be looking to prove that he’s capable of Grand Slam greatness as he comes in Melbourne looking for greater things.
On the women’s side, Serena Williams will enter the tournament as a strong favorite. She will be keen to atone for last year’s US Open meltdown. However, the American won’t want to keep her guard down this year as she’ll be accompanied with other players looking for a better year as well.
Such players includes former champion Maria Sharapova…
Watch Out for Melanie Oudin
Monday, September 28th, 2009
Serena Williams may have fired some ill-comments towards umpires but that’s not the story as far as women tennis in the U.S. is concerned.
The story in the 2009 U.S. Open has shifted from the Williams sisters to a virtual unknown named Melanie Oudin of Marietta, Georgia. The 70th-ranked Oudin has been handing out upsets to some of the sport’s biggest female stars, including Russian aces Elena Dementieva and Maria Sharapova. She also defeated 13th seed Nadia Petrova in three sets, making it crystal clear that this 17-year-old ain’t no pushover.
Sure, the magical ride for the young Melanie Oudin went to a crushing halt when she went up against no.9 seed Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark, losing 6-2, 6-2. But the fact of the matter is, Oudin has arrived into the scene of women’s tennis in style and everybody will recognize this young talent the next time she sets foot on a tennis court.
”This has been a great experience for me. I had a great run here,” Oudin told the crowd of 23,881 during an on-court interview right after losing the match to Wozniacki, an honor usually reserved for the winner. ”I hope to come back next year and do even better.”
Doing better might just be a little harder for her though.
She upset four more established players, including the hot and sexy Maria Sharapova and Beijing Olympic gold medalist Elena Dementieva, to become the youngest quarter finalist at Flushing Meadows since Serena Williams in 1999.
Making the story even better is the fact that Oudin’s last three victories each came after dropping the first set. But her start against Wozniacki was quite inauspicious, she lost 14 of the first 18 points under the bright lights in the big city.
With ”BELIEVE” stamped in all capital letters on the heels of her pink and yellow sneakers, Oudin certainly never gave up, her ground strokes did.
It should be interesting how she does next season…
Can Serena Williams win the US Open?
Thursday, August 20th, 2009
The last Grand Slam of the tennis calendar is on.
The 2009 U.S. Open is here and we’ll probably see some poor sap get beaten down by Serena Williams again.
And since Serena Williams is the defending champion of the U.S. Open, not to mention the fact that she’s still fresh from her huge win at Wimbledon, the younger Williams sister will definitely be the woman to beat.
Serena has this tendency to make her opponents look decidedly ordinary with her speed and strength, unless of course she’s playing against the hot and sexy Maria Sharapova who’ll probably make Serena look like a freaking gorilla compared to Sharapova’s long legs, smooth skin and…
ANYWAY, Serena is the current holder of the U.S. Open singles title and her odds should shorten as summer tournaments heat up. She’s the best athlete on the women’s tour and she has a slight, but significant, age advantage on her older sister Venus Williams. It’s hard to imagine Serena not at least making the semis of the U.S. Open and despite being ranked no.2 in the world, she should be the odds-on favorite.
Then we have Dinara Safina. It is hard to find a serious tennis analyst who doesn’t think she is one of the best players in the sport right now. Without a shadow of a doubt, she is one of the best in the world at the moment with all of her success in the past year, but the general consensus is that Serena is still the world’s best player due to her multiple Grand Slam titles in the last year. A win over Serena at Flushing Meadows could sure fix that.
Elena Dementieva has never won a Grand Slam singles title but she did make the finals of the 2004 U.S. Open. With her odds set at +1000 (10/1) she is underrated and is more of a threat to win the 2009 U.S. Open than Sharapova, Ivanovic, Safina, and Azarenka.
Players that should almost certainly be…
Rafael Nadal to miss the US Open?
Thursday, August 13th, 2009
After being out of tennis competition for two months, looks like Nadal could be out for more.
Yes, arguably the best tennis player to come out of Spain could be out longer, forcing him to miss the last Grand Slam tennis tournament of the season which would be the 2009 U.S. Open.
Too bad considering that Rafael Nadal was the no.1 tennis player in the world coming in 2009. When he lost in the French Open at Roland Garros for the first time ever, it was so monumental that everything started crumbling down with it.
You see, Nadal has been out of action for two months with knee problems during which time he lost both the French Open and Wimbledon titles to his rival Roger Federer. Since then, Federer has reclaimed his spot on top of the mountain, thanks primarily to Nadal’s troubles on and off the court.
As of this writing, Nadal has no idea if he’d be able to play in the U.S. Open and give him a chance to redeem himself.
‘’I can’t tell you if I’ll be 100 percent for the U.S. Open,’’ Nadal said. ‘’It depends on many factors but clearly, I’ll work as hard as I can try to be in condition there. But most of all, I want to make sure my knees respond well.’’
‘’Once I know my knees will respond well, I can train well, I can compete with greater calm and that’s what will give me, little by little, the confidence to train at the maximum level.’’
‘’I arrived at two very important tournaments…”
Can Roger Federer win Wimbledon?
Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009
After finally winning his very first French Open title a few weeks ago, he’s looking to win the big one.
Fresh off his first French Open title, Roger Federer considers himself the man to beat at the 2009 Wimbledon championships. This year’s Wimbledon will be held from June 22 to July 5, 2009 at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club as always.
And as far as Roger Federer is concerned, he says he’s looking forward to trying to claim a sixth championship. ‘’I do think I’m the favorite, actually, with all the success I’ve had,’’ Federer said.
A little cocky but judging by the way he’s been dominating the past Wimbledon tournaments, he has every reason to be. Sure, his run of five consecutive Wimbledon titles ended with a five-set loss to Rafael Nadal in last year’s final but the guy is still the winner of five of the last six Wimbledon tournaments, and betting against him will still be a very bad idea.
Federer said his back feels OK. He took a six-week break this year because it was bothering him. As for his game, Federer figures he can keep improving, particularly on grass and hard courts, ‘’when I can go for my shots more.’’
We thought Rafael Nadal would be ready for this year’s tournament as this is a must win for him this year if he wants to keep his spot as the world no.1. Unfortunately, he has already ruled himself out of the tournament due to injury.
But aside from Nadal, there will be others looking to beat Federer in England. One of which is Andy Murray, who has good luck against Federer in 2009. Andy has beaten Federer in the semi-finals of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open and the semi-finals of the BNP Paribas Open.
Aside from his success against Federer, Murray has…
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