Three of the usual suspects safely made their way into the last four of the Australian Open but the betting has been thrown open by the shock exit of Rafa Nadal at the quarter-final stage. David Ferrer knocked the world number one out in straight sets and will now face second favourite to win the tournament Andy Murray. In the other semi-final, new tournament favourite, at 11/10 with William Hill bookmakers, and defending champion Roger Federer takes on Novak Djokovic.
Ferrer's 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 win over a clearly injured Nadal inflicted a first Grand Slam defeat on his fellow Spaniard since he retired against Andy Murray at the same stage last year. Ferrer is a 12/1 shot to win the tournament outright and is the outside bet of the four remaining in the tournament. Andy Murray will be on his guard though after a slightly edgy 7-5, 6-3, 6-7, 6-3 win over surprise package Alexandr Dolgopolov in his quarter-final. Murray's odds of winning the tournament have been clipped in from 4/1 to 15/8 following Nadal's exit and he appears to have a great chance of reaching his second consecutive Australian Open final.
Ferrer will be no pushover, as he proved with his professional win over Nadal, and the Spaniard currently leads Murray 3-2 in their head-to-head record. All of Ferrer's wins have come on clay though and Murray won their last meeting at the ATP World Tour Finals in November and has won all of their meetings on hard courts. So the hard courts of Melbourne should suit and Murray is odds on 2/7 favourite to win the match on Friday morning, while Ferrer can be backed at odds of 5/2 with Hills. A five set thriller can be backed at odds of 11/4 with Hills or if you fancy Murray to do the job in three sets that is currently an 11/8 industry best price bet.
Murray will be keen to set up another Australian Open title decider against Roger Federer after he lost out to the Swiss legend in last year's final. Federer must overcome Djokovic first though and he is 2/5 favourite to win the semi-final on Thursday morning, with 2008 champion Djokovic a 7/4 bet with WilliamHill.com. Federer has been far from his best in this tournament but the defending champion has excellent pedigree in Melbourne and has a 13-6 head-to-head record against Djokovic and has won their previous three meetings.
Djokovic did beat Federer the last time these two met at the Australian Open in 2008 though as he won through in straight sets, and another straight sets Djokovic win is currently an outside 8/1 bet with Hills. Djokovic is a 4/1 punt to win the tournament outright, with his opponent 11/10 favourite to successfully defend his crown with the 'Rafa Slam' no longer possible.
A repeat of last year's Murray versus Federer final looks the favourite with William Hill bookmakers but both men will have to avoid any semi-final slip ups to give Murray a shot at revenge and a first Grand Slam title.
Latest 2011 Australian Open Betting
Tournament Winner Odds:
11/10 Roger Federer
15/8 Andy Murray
4/1 Novak Djokovic
12/1 David Ferrer
Semi-Final Odds:
Thursday
Novak Djokovic 7/4 v Roger Federer 2/5
Friday
Andy Murray 2/7 v David Ferrer 5/2
Odds supplied by WilliamHill.com, who provide a variety of betting markets for the Australian Open and each match throughout the tournament.
Posted: Wednesday, 26th January 2011
Author: Chris James
Tags: australian open, andy murray, roger federer, david ferrer, william hill,
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