Rafael Nadal 2012 Australian Open Tennis betting Preview. After all the struggles of last season, former world number one Rafael Nadal will be hoping to turn up the heat in the early stages of the new season, with a strong showing at the Australian Open. However, the Spaniard, who appears to have been battling both fitness and focus problems over the last six months or so, doesn’t look to be in prime shape ahead of his Melbourne quest. Nadal’s first outing of the season came in Doha, where he lost in the semi final to Gael Monfils (a result which Nadal said was better than expected), and losing out to David Ferrer in an exhibition tournament following that, there is clearly more work to be done if the Spaniard is going to get back to the heights of being number one. Looking at Rafael Nadal 2012 Australian Open tennis betting odds, he has drifted out to fourth favourite, because of the problems which he has been having. He did look in decent shape when he helped fire Spain to the Davis Cup, but there is just something lacking to his game at the moment, which puts doubts on whether or not he can go all the way in a long, arduous Grand Slam challenge at the moment. Nadal lost a lot of power to Novak Djokovic last season, as Nadal only managed to get his hands on the French Open and that was it. Nadal won the 2009 Australian Open title against Roger Federer but you will remember his sorry exit from last year’s Australian Open, when injury in the quarter final against fellow countryman David Ferrer, meant that he couldn’t compete. But he is back for more, as he has kept talking about finding the new fire and passion for the game, and knowing that he needs to step up his form if he is going to be able to match Novak Djokovic.
So Nadal hits Melbourne Park with a patched up shoulder, an injury which has been bothering him and with an adjusted racquet, which is designed to help him get higher balls back over the net with force. Nadal has been one of the most vocal players in disapproval at heavy calendar scheduling, and with only a couple of weeks of preparation for the first Grand Slam of the season, which hasn’t gone terrifically, you wonder what kind of threat Nadal is going to be able to muster up. The bookies are leaning towards him being the weakest of the four main contenders in this year’s 2012 Australian Open tennis betting. He is back as fourth favourite, going off in the bottom half of the draw along with Roger Federer. The big dream semi final clash in the bottom half would be Nadal v Federer, just to reignite that old rivalry even further, and looking at Nadal’s quarter of the draw, you would expect an 80% fit Nadal to still get through. There is the likes of John Isner, Nicolas Almagro and Tomas Berdych in his quarter who could test Nadal if the Spaniard is not on top of his game, but we will find out soon enough just what kind of shape he really is in. He has looked vulnerable, appearing tired and fatigued at the end of last season, lacking a bit of drive, but he is a champion of the sport and going into a Grand Slam he will expect nothing less than his best. Nadal’s camp really does not sound as confident as the words coming out of Novak Djokovic’s and Roger Federer’s. So does the Spaniard have something special to produce? A good couple of solid victories before the real challenges start around the fourth round would surely set him up well. If he makes it to the second week of competition, would you could him out? Nadal carries a 143-20 match record in Grand Slams (with ten major titles) into Melbourne Park and on the hard court surface, Nadal holds a career 263-83 match record. Nadal opens with a first round match against Alex Kuznetsov, a qualifier from the USA.
Rafael Nadal to win 2012 Australian Open betting Odds: 8/1 at William Hill
Rafael Nadal to reach final: 3/1 at VC Bet
Name the Finalists:
Novak Djokovic v Rafael Nadal: 4/1 at Bet365
Andy Murray v Rafael Nadal: 10/1 at Bet365
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