Australian Open Betting

Australian Open History

The first-ever professional edition of the Australian Open was held back in 1969 so you generally look at the two era’s for records, pre-1969 and post 1969.

The appeal of the tournament is naturally huge and it is played in the middle of the Australian summer so players have to deal with soaring temperatures as well.

The attendances really do rival the crowds that pour into the US Open later in the year and the Australian Open gives equal payouts as well because the total prize money is distributed equally between the women’s and the men’s tournaments in Melbourne.

The prize fund for the winners of the two main singles events is in the millions.

Three of the courts at the tournament do have retractable roofs and this allows play to continue even in the most extreme temperatures (or rain!). The Rod Laver Arena, the Hisense Arena and the Margaret court Arena all have the retractable roofs.

The first round of the tournaments for both the men’s and the women’s have 128 players filling out the spots. There are three qualifier rounds for some players to get through before making it to the main draw.

Former Winners

Australia’s own Roy Emerson was the king of the court in the pre-professional era with six titles won, but in the modern Open era, Serbia’s Novak Djokovic equalled that record when he got his hands on the title for the sixth time in 2016. Other notable multiple time winners of the men’s tournament throughout the modern history have been Roger Federer, Andre Agassi and Mats Wilander.

Margaret Court was the most dominant female figure on the scene in the pre-professional Era of the Australian Open, winning the title seven times and then going on to actually win four more in the Open era as well. Of the modern stars, Serena Williams, Steffi Graf, Monica Seles, Martina Hingis, Chris Evert and the legend Martina Navratilova all collected the title on multiple occasions in Melbourne.

2020 Australian Open Review

There was a first-time winner at the 2020 Australian Open, with America’s Sofia Kenin pulling off a huge upset. The youngster beat Spains’ Garbine Muguruza in the final of the tournament, fighting back brilliantly after having dropped the first set.

In lifting the title, Kenin became the only other American beside Serena Williams to win the Australian Open since 2002 when Jennifer Capriati triumphed. Throughout her Australian Open campaign, Kenin showed tremendous grit and ability to handle herself in some major pressure situations.

Kenin did only meet one other seeded player at the event, which was home favourite and world number one Ashleigh Barty. But Kenin took full advantage against the Australian who looked as if she was struggling to handle the weight of expectation on her at the semi final stage.

Naomi Osaka had been the defending champion but she lost out to Coco Gauff in the third round.

There were another couple of big newsworthy moments from the 2020 Australian Open Women’s draw. Maria Sharapova ended up playing her last game before retiring and Caroline Wozniacki stepped away from the game at the end of the tournament as well.

Djokovic defends Australian Open crown

In the men’s draw, Novak Djokovic successfully defended his Australian Open title, securing it for a record-extending eighth time. He was completely untroubled on his way to the final, despite having faced Milos Raonic in the quarterfinals and then Roger Federer in the semi-finals. Djokovic dispatched both of them in straight sets.

The big thriller against Roger Federer never really had the chance to play out though. Federer had been struggling with injury and was never moving right with his leg heavily strapped for the contest.

The outcome of the semi-final was almost a foregone conclusion. Federer did set a record at the tournament, becoming the first player ever to win 100 matches at the Australian Open after his third-round success.

In the final of the Men’s tournament Novak Djokovic faced Dominic Thiem and Djokovic probably never expected the level of challenge that he got. Thiem had had Djokovic on the ropes at one point, the Austrian sitting 2-1 up.

But then Djokovic pulled out one of those stunning fightbacks that he sometimes makes look so easy to take the match and title.

2021 Australian Open

So stepping into the 2021 Australian Open it will be Novak Djokovic who will be aiming to successfully pull off another title defence.

The Serbian holds a staggering 75-8 match record throughout his career at Melbourne Park, now having won seven of the last ten editions, eight overall.

He will also be aiming to win the Australian Open title for the third consecutive year, having pulled off that achievement in 2011 through 2013.

Sofia Kenin will be charged with defending her title in the Women’s Draw. This will be the first time of being in the position of defending a Slam title in her career. The recent history will be against her a bit on that front.

The last player to win back to back Australian Open titles was Victoria Azarenka in 2012 and 2013. Serena Williams is the only other player to do it since 2003.

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