Federer’s price slashed to win Australian Open
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Following the elimination of Djokovic and Murray, Fed is now favourite
Punters following this year’s Australian Open have witnessed a thrilling spectacle so far, with Novak Djolovic and Andy Murray, two pre-tournament favourites, knocked out in the early stages. The Brit will never have a better chance of winning the competition either.
Djok, a six-time winner in Melbourne, including victory in each of the last two years, was sent packing in the second round at the hands of little-known Denis Istomin. When asked by the media after that hurtful defeat what we would take from the match, he responded – his bags and go home. Which he did.
Following that shock, Sir Andy Murray looked nailed-on to go and win a title that has so far eluded him, with five runner-up medals to show for his efforts to date. With old rival Djokovic out of the way, he may never have an easier route to the final. It wasn’t to be for the Scot however and he too bowed out at the hands of an also-ran in Mischa Zverev at the fourth round stage. Murray will now sit out of the latest Davis Cup pick.
Fed-Ex now favourite to deliver
This drama has been good news for one man, Roger Federer, the 35-year-old who refuses to go away at the top end of the sport. A four-time winner of the Australian Open, last getting his hands on the prize back in 2010, Coral punters saw his outright price slashed from 25/1 earlier in the week into 2/1, which is available at the time of writing.
That makes him favourite, and the Swiss star certainly appeared to wear it well when dismantling Murray conqueror Zverev with relative ease, taking little over 90-minutes to deal with the upstart, courtesy of a 6-1, 7-5, 6-2 verdict.
The man seeded 17th at the start of the competition has now set up a pulsating clash with Stan Wawrinka in the semi-finals and if he can successfully negotiate that tie, there certainly won’t be much of that 2/1 left going around. Fed knows what it takes to deliver on the big stage, and zones in on what would be an 18th Grand Slam title of his glittering career.
Nadal firmly in the mix
Main danger in the market comes from Rafa Nadal, who can be backed at 10/3, but the Spaniard had to roll up his sleeves to grind past Gael Monfils recently.
Nadal is another who wouldn’t have attracted much attention before the competition started, but the 30-year-old 2009 champion seems to be coming onto his game at exactly the right time, and with Murray ad Djokovic out of the running, we look on-course for a return to those thrilling Federer-Nadal battles.
