Australian Open Tennis preview and odds

Published on: 12/01/2017

Australian Open Tennis preview and odds

January 16, 2017 11:00am - Melbourne Park, Australia

ATP Mens Tennis

Its that time of year again! With just a few weeks of action under their belts since the start of the new season, the biggest names in mens tennis will gather in Melbourne for the first Grand Slam event of the year.

Can Djokovic Frustrate Murray once again?

A lot has happened since Novak Djokovic claimed his fifth Australian Open in six years last January. The champ followed up that Grand Slam win with his first ever French Open crown a few months later, but bagged just one more title before being eclipsed by Britain`s Andy Murray during the second half of the season. The 29-year-old Serb finished the season as World No. 2 and will now be looking reclaim top spot from his in-form rival.

Meanwhile, Murray will be out to end his Melbourne hoodoo by grabbing his first ever title down under. The reigning Wimbledon and World Tour champion has finished runner-up at Melbourne Park on five occasions, with four of those defeats coming against Djokovic.

So who will prevail in 2017?

At this stage, it is hard to see past another Djokovic vs. Murray final. The tournament historically favours the top-ranked contestants and both players are in great shape, with the former coming out on top in their recent meeting in Doha.

However, the World No. 2 has fallen to Marin Cilic, Roberto Bautista Agut, Stan Wawrinka, Juan Martin Del Potro and Sam Querry within the last six months. In the same time period, Murray fell to Cilic, Del Potro and Nishikori before losing to Djokovic 10 days ago. Prior to that meeting, the World No. 1 had recorded 29 wins in a row, notching up five titles in the process.

In addition, with the win in London, Murray seems to have finally broken the psychological barrier that has often materialised during recent top-level confrontations between him and his arch rival. Whether he can also break his Melbourne curse, remains to be seen.

The predicted high temperatures and fairly quick conditions should suit both men and there will be little to separate them in the betting markets. In fact, Djokovic`s status as favourite was ultimately decided by the result in Doha 10 days ago.

Betting predictions

Despite Murray`s rise to the top, his overall statistics still fall short of his rival`s. In addition, his record against Djokovic since Wimbledon 2013 stands at W3 L14, and he hasn`t beaten the Serb in a Grand Slam event (in five attempts) since that triumph nearly four years ago.

As a result, Djokovic looks well-priced to frustrate the Brit for a fifth time in Melbourne at odds of around 13/8.

By Neil Morris

Published on: 12/01/2017

Any odds displayed within this preview were correct at the time of publishing (12/01/2017 15:28:08) but are subject to change.