The draw has been set for the Australian Open 2018 and the action in Melbourne is set to start on January 15th. There have been questions and doubts about just which of the big guns in the field are actually going to be fit enough to seriously throw together a title challenge and in some cases, who will actually show up at the tournament. Andy Murray is definitely out, Stan Wawrinka is a doubt to be taking on the challenge of the Grand Slam because of injury problems, while Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic have pulled out of early-season events because of lingering issues, but are taking part in the first Slam of the year. So it could be a pretty wild ride at the Australian Open 2018 and it will provide two thrilling weeks of tennis betting as well.
Australian Open Reigning champion
Roger Federer rolled back the years to saunter his way to the title in his effortless, classy style. Federer is actually the only one of the main contenders this season who hasn’t been dealing with any significant injury problems and that is because of his tournament management last year where he didn’t push himself in a heavy schedule. That win twelve months ago moved him on to five Australian Open career titles, leaving him just one short of Novak Djokovic’s current Open Era record of six titles at Melbourne Park. It was Federer’s first title in Melbourne since 2010 as he took down his old foe Rafa Nadal in the final over five epic sets.
Australian Open 2018 Betting Odds*
Roger Federer 7/4, Rafael Nadal 4/1, Novak Djokovic 11/2, Grigor Dimitrov 10/1, Alexander Zverev 12/1. Nick Kyrgios 14/1, Juan Martin del Potro 14/1, David Goffin 16/1, Dominic Thiem 25/1, Stan Wawrin 25/1, Marin Cilic 28/1, Milos Raonic 28/1, 40/1 bar* (Betting Odds taken from January 12th, 7:56 p.m.)
Qualification
There are eight wildcard entries to the Australian Open handed out by selectors. For 128 other players (yes the qualifying process is that big), they have to come through a qualifier and among those were Britain’s Cameron Norrie (sixth seed for qualifying) who was stopped in the second qualifying round against Australia’s John-Patrick Smith. In order to reach the main draw of the Australian Open, a player will have to win three matches to get there.
Draw
The draw naturally plays a big part in betting scenarios. You have to look ahead and see what tough matches couldn’t be waiting ahead for someone. The top two seeds, who are Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer respectively, will go in opposite halves of the draw, Nadal at the top, Federer at the bottom so the two main contenders would be kept apart, as they were last year, until the final. A Federer/Nadal option is at 11/4 odds with Paddy Power in the Name the Finalists Market* (Betting Odds were taken January 12th, 7:56 p.m.). So where do the rest of the pieces fall into place, notably 14th seed Novak Djokovic? The six-time Champion is down in the bottom half of the table and he could face a tough fourth-round draw against Alexander Zverev, a quarter-final showdown against either 5th seed Dominic Thiem or 9th seed Stan Wawrinka. It also means, of course, then he could have to get past Federer in the semi finals.
Australian Open Top 8 Seeds
- Rafael Nadal
- Roger Federer
- Grigor Dimitrov
- Alexander Zverev
- Dominic Thiem
- Marin Cilic
- David Goffin
- Jack Sock
Top Sixteen Seeds by Draw Section
Top Half
Section 1 Seeds: Rafael Nadal (1), John Isner (16)
Section 2 Seeds: Pablo Carreno Busta (10), Marin Cilic (6)
Section 3 Seeds: Grigor Dimitrov (3), Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (15)
Section 4 Seeds: Kevin Anderson (11), Jack Sock (8)
Bottom Half
Section 5 Seeds: Dominic Thiem (5), Stan Wawrinka (8)
Section 6 Seeds: Novak Djokovic (14), Alexander Zverev (4)
Section 7 Seeds: David Goffin (7), Juan Martin Del Potro (12)
Section 8 Seeds: Sam Querrey (13), Roger Federer (2)
Main Contenders
Roger Federer is probably the one to beat on the hard courts of Melbourne this year again. He has been fairly relaxed in his warm-up, taking time out to ring in the New Year in Australia. He played the Hopman Cup with Belinda Bencic and they won that as a warm up for this. Federer lost just five times last year and he did take out Nadal in each of the four meetings that they faced off in during 2017. He wasn’t himself at the US Open last year at all, struggling with a back problem, but he should be fresh and raring to go in Melbourne. There will be questions though over the draw ahead of him which could be pretty testing.
The bottom half of the draw is stacked, far more so than the top half of the draw and that could play a part in actually opening up the field for Nadal. Nadal is the World Number one however after he won the US Open last year, he has been struggling with knee problems and pulled out of an exhibition in Abu Dhabi and from the Brisbane International because he felt that he wasn’t back at 100% yet. He put in a lot more matches than Federer did last season and could be paying the price. However, the thing which will help Nadal is that he has a much easier draw ahead than Federer does.
What of Novak Djokovic? He has been out of action with his elbow problem, but he has been talking the talk ahead of the Grand Slam. He has been limited to exhibition warm-up matches because of nagging elbow issues, but he looks fit and full of energy. But there is a long and difficult path ahead of him to make a run at what would be his seventh Australian Open title. If his elbow is not at full strength, it could be a bit too big of an ask for him to get back to the top so soon.
The Next Generation
There should be some serious challenges happening this year from those who have the ability to step up and take the reins in the ATP as the next generation. Grigor Dimitrov rose to a career high of third in the world following his surprise victory at the ATP World Tour Finals at the back end of last year. That was totally out of the blue and since then he has been slamming and cramming work, with just one week off. So it looks as if he means business and he has a wonderfully favourable draw ahead of him as well at the Australian Open 2018. He could be a great each way option in Australian Open tennis betting with Paddy Power.
Alexander Zverev will be the one leading the main charge though. He collected five titles for himself in the 2017 ATP season but he kind of misfired a bit in the Grand Slam efforts and that is where he needs to really make some headway. He has yet to make it past the fourth round of a Grand Slam in his short career but it is bound to come at some point. He could though be meeting former Champion Novak Djokovic in this season’s fourth round which is going to be a huge hurdle.
Australia’s own Nick Kyrgios. What will punters make of him? He has the talent to go far in the game, but his temperament, focus and consistency let him down time and time again. He started this season with a bang though as he claimed the Brisbane title which will have made punters sit up and take notice. However, until he sorts out his mental focus, he is nothing more than an-each way gamble at the moment. Just think back a year ago when he was cruising in the second round, two sets up against Andreas Seppi and still lost the match.
Australian Open 2018 Predictions
Whoever comes through the bottom half of the draw is going to have to have done some seriously hard graft. No-one has an easy path to the final looking at the setup of the draw. So that should send a little advantage to those main contenders in the top half of the draw who are Rafa Nadal and Grigor Dimitrov. Let’s not forget that Dimitrov made a semi-final run in Melbourne last year and is a great each way option to go all the way. Of the big guns, Nadal, as long as he is managing his knee, looks the value.
