Posted on 12/6/2007 3:33:37 PM

Tennis Betting - 2008 Australian Open Preview

By Nila Amerova

The 2008 Australian Open will savor one of the deepest playing fields in the tournaments 103-year history, as the entries of the world’s top 100 men and 99 of the top 100 women were announced a few days ago.

World No.1 and three-time Australian Open Champion Roger Federer (2004, 2006-07) heads up the men’s draw, while World No.1 and 2004 Australian Open Champion Justine Henin, who missed the 2007 Australian Open due to personal tribulations, received top seed in the women’s draw.

Both the men’s and women’s field feature genuine superstars. On the women’s side, four former champions are heading to Melbourne—Serena Williams (2003, 2005 and 2007), Justine Henin (2004), Amelie Mauresmo (2006) and Lindsay Davenport (2000). The men’s field holds three former champions—Roger Federer (2004, 2006-07), Marat Safin (2005) and Thomas Johansson (2002).

Also heading to Melbourne in January and worthy of note on the men’s side is three-time French Open champion No.2 Rafael Nadal, who along with Roger Federer, in the 2007 ATP season, once again, made a complete sweep of all the Grand Slam titles and finished the season as the world’s No.1 and No.2 ranked players for the third consecutive year.

Meanwhile, the women’s draw will bear one of sports former axis of power—the double billing of defending champion Serena Williams and sister Venus Williams, who has never won an Australian Open title—in action, as well as two-time Grand Slam titlist and 2007 Australian Open finalist No.5 Maria Sharapova.

Sprinkling the playing field are some of the 2007 season’s breakout players – the Serbian trio of No.3 Novak Djokovic, No.3 Jelena Jankovic and No.4 Ana Ivanovic; Spaniard David Ferrer and Russian Ana Chakvetadze, who finished with a year-end ranking of No.5 and No.6 respectively; the French duo of No.8 Richard Gasquet and No.10 Marion Bartoli; and Argentinean David Nalbandian, who salvaged a lackluster season late in the year, winning the last two ATP Masters Series shields (Madrid and Paris) and rose to World No.9 in the ATP rankings. While none of these players has won a Grand Slam title, their performance in the 2007 season pronounced them as serious contenders. Look out for these players in 2008 for it is largely held that in this group lies a first-time Grand Slam champion—possibly a new Australian Open champion.

Behind tennis’s Top 10 tandem, there are the pretenders and the outsiders, also known as the so-called dark horses, who are poised to emerge, and while they are not the favorites, by any stretch of the imagination, their showing at the first Grand Slam title of the 2008 season is anticipated to shakeup the draw by delivering some upsets. The pool of talent, tipped at long odds, but bankable, particularly during the early rounds, is comprised of No.11 Andy Murray, the Czech duo of No.14 Tomas Berdych and No.12 Nicole Vaidisova, No.17 Shahar Peer, No. 19 Agnes Szavay, No.21 Alona Bondarenko, No.22 Ivo Karlovic and No.29 Victoria Azarenka, and to a lesser extent No.23 Lucie Safarova, No.25 Paul-Henri Mathieu and No.25 Agneiska Radwanska.

Clearly, in 2008, the depth of the playing field will see the old guard face-off against the new rising talent—each assemblage holding valid contenders for the coveted title. So, what does all this means for tennis bettors, you may be wondering? Nothing but good news, I assure you, as handicapping the Australian Open, with such a wide-open playing field, can only mean one thing: lots of betting success if done right! Of course, we are a long ways from tackling, with any certainty, the question of who will be crowned champion, at least not until the draw is officially announced, as knowing where each player falls in the draw goes a long way to yielding probable outcomes. Nonetheless, to get you started betting on tennis in the meantime, during the month leading up to the Australian Open, I will examine most of the contenders, serving up as much insight and information for you to bet with on the 2008 Australian Open futures, (currently live with BetUS Sportsbook) and the up-coming player match ups.

Federer might be winning everything except clay these days, but with online sports betting in the BetUS.com Sportsbook, betting on tennis has never been so exciting! Join the BetUS.com online sportsbook today and start using the latest tennis lines, odds and props to earn cold, hard cash!

Nila Amerova is a freelance sports writer and regular contributor to the BetUS.com Locker Room.