Djokovic Heads Australian Open Betting Despite Doha Exit

World number one Novak Djokovic is the strong 11/10 favourite to take home his fifth Australian Open title ahead of Friday`s men`s singles draw. The 27-year-old grabbed his first tournament victory down under back in 2008 before securing successive titles from 2011 to 2013.

Both betway and paddy Power are offering this best price for the Serbian who looks to close in on Roy Emerson`s record of six Melbourne Park championships.

Djokovic could only make it to the quarter-finals in last season`s tournament though recovered to pick up his second Wimbledon championship. Add to this a World Tour Finals crown, a Roland Garros runners-up place and another five titles and it`s safe to say that the top seed is a sure fire shout to make a better fist of the competition this time around.

On the flip side, Djokovic`s quarter finals exit from the Doha Open in Qatar may be enough to cause concern amongst backers of the favourite. The Serb lost out to Croatia`s Ivo Karlovic despite twice coming two points within reaching the final four in the second set tie-breaker. Things weren`t to be against the big-serving 35-year-old, who recorded a massive 21 aces, and he eventually triumphed 6-7 (2-7), 7-6 (8-6), 6-4.

Eyes will be on Roger Federer then to capitalise should the world number one stutter in Melbourne. The trio of boylesports, paddy Power and Spreadex have priced the 33-year-old 17-time Grand Slam title holder at 6/1 to earn his fifth Aussie championship after recording his 1,000th career win by triumphing in the Brisbane International yesterday.

World number two Federer withstood a not insignificant amount of third set pressure from fellow finalist Milos Raonic who was building momentum after a confident performance in the second phase tie-break. The Swiss used every ounce of experience gained over the years, however, to hold on and eventually broke his opponent in the tenth game to claim victory 6-4, 6-7 (2-7), 6-4.

Only Jimmy Connors and Ivan Lendl have previously managed to accumulate 1,000 ATP successes.

Of the remainder, home hope and three-time tournament finalist Andy Murray will be aiming to go one better this time around. The Scot`s preparation has gone well with Murray having already secured the Mubadala World Tennis Championship after fellow finalist Djokovic cited a fever as he withdrew before the pair`s match-up.

The title couldn`t have been more deserved, however, with the 27-year-old only dropping two games against world number three Rafael Nadal in what was to be his final game of the competition.

This 6-2, 6-0 triumph came at a cost though as the sixth ranked player in the world complained of a pain in his left shoulder in the immediate minutes after the easy win.

A further win in the Hopman Cup has put pay to any doubts that the Brit is in any way afflicted by the injury and Murray looks good value for his price should he be able to build upon his Abu Dhabi form.

Last season`s unlikely victor Wawrinka is 16/1 to earn back-to-back titles following his success at the Chennai Open in India. The Swiss number two beat all of his rivals in two sets in a championship win that culminated in the 6-3, 6-4 defeat of Slovenian qualifier Aljaz Bedene in the final.

A miserable exit from his first match of the Doha Open sees the floundering Nadal priced up at 9/1 by both Sporting Bet and Spreadex. The same bookmakers rate Kei Nishikori as a 16/1 chance whilst the aforementioned Brisbane runner-up Raonic may be the best of the outsiders at 50/1 (betway, ladbrokes, william hill). First round action is set to take place a week today on the 19th January.

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12/01/2015     © Frixo 2026