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 The first tennis Grand
Slam of the year is here and the action starts Sunday
night (for those in europe) in Melbourne. The Australian Open is by far the
trickiest of the slams for players and punters as not much time has gone in the
new season to establish a pattern.
At this time of the year, there is a lot of unknown about the players with only
a few of them participating in the preceding tournaments. Down in Melbourne, the
weather conditions will come into play as the soaring heat during the slam
affects a lot of players. Having looked at the draws, there are some interesting
alternative bets to Federer and Henin, who have monopolised the Grand Slams in
the past couple of seasons.
Five Best Alternative Best to Roger Federer.
Looking at the first Quarter, one would expect Federer to come out of that
group. It is hard to find an alternative to him with the likes of Berdych,
Ljubicic and Gonzales not having enough weapons to potentially cause an upset.
But, there is a player in the quarter who could come up with the goods after
achieving one of his career goals. James Blake won the Davis Cup with the USA
last year and that momentum could help him this season. His first outing this
year was not encouraging as he lost in the first round but he is fresh and
brimming with confidence which could see him through to the last 8 at the worst.
Take Blake at a huge 25/1 with Bet365 to win first quarter.
The next quarter is definitely the toughest one. It has some of the danger
players on the circuit who will lock horns as early as the second round. Marat
Safin can never be overlooked, a former champion at the Australian Open, he
seems to play his best at this Grand Slam and can come good. In his path lies
Xavier Malisse who does his best work in the first of the season and Marco
Baghdatis who is still seeking a breakthrough with his fine play at this level.
And, there is also Novak Djokovic, the Serbian who made his impact in 2007 and
claimed number 3 spot for himself. Djokovic looked a bit suspect when playing Lu
during the Hopman cup and he dropped a set to the 112th player in the world.
Nalbandian, the only person to beat Federer twice in 2007 is also a force to
consider but with his back injury, he might just be a betting hazard. Last but
not least is David Ferrer. The Spaniard is in good form which he showed all
through the second half of 2007. Ferrer looked like a player that had a lot left
in the tank towards the close of the season and will carry on from where he left
off. A very tough decision to pick who will go through but it probably boils
down to a Ferrer showdown with any of the rest and the number 2 alternative is
David Ferrer to win Quarter 2 @ 8/1 with Bet365 (Claim a free £100 bet with
Bet365 above)
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