ATP Tennis Betting Brisbane International

Brisbane, Australia – The ATP 2009 tennis season is finally underway and there is a lot of action to cover for the online betting community at BetUS Sportsbook. So let us get started.

The Brisbane International tournament kicked off on Sunday with several of the top players on the tour already booking their places in the second round; including third seed Fernando Verdasco, fourth seed Robin Soderling, seventh seed Richard Gasquet and eighth seed Radek Stepanek. But the most anticipated billing in the online betting market is scheduled for Tuesday, day three of the tournament – that is Monday night for North American tennis bettor – when Novak Djokovic opens his tournament and season against uber talented Ernests Gulbis of Latvia.

Djokovic fans and neutrals alike are anxious to follow Djokovic’s campaign in Brisbane – and in the run up to the Australian Open where he will be forced to defend his first-ever Grand Slam title win of last season. Djokovic enters the tournament as the top seed and odds-on-favourite to win the title. He sits ten points shy of Federer in the ATP rankings and stands to overhaul Federer from the No.2 position with a combination of results – a great showing in Brisbane together with a poor showing by Federer in Doha. So how will Djokovic fare?

Here is a breakdown of his sensational opening billing for sports bettors looking to bet on some tennis this week.

Tennis Betting Line: Novak Djokovic -500 Ernest Gulbis +300

Match Time: 10:15 P.M. Eastern Time Monday January 05, 2009

Tennis Analysis: An intriguing matchup in Brisbane for the Serbian sensation was bound to happen at some point, as the field assembled down under is rather exciting, but for it to have happened in the first round is rather unfavourable for the top seed Djokovic. Gulbis currently sits 53rd in the ATP ranking but he is a wily opponent – if at times inconsistent.

Their matchup is interesting because as juniors they were sparring partners. They know each other well, which is why they delivered two exceptional contests last season. Djokovic came out the better in both but they were very close matches. They met for the first time at Roland Garros in the quarterfinals. Gulbis put on quite the show but Djokovic squeaked by straight sets, determined by a handful of points 7-5, 7-6(3), 7-5. At the ATP Masers Series in Cincinnati, Djokovic improved to 2-0 lifetime against Gulbis when he beat him 6-3, 6-4.

Tennis Betting Verdict:

Djokovic -500: All eyes will be on Djokovic. He, amongst several other players, has thrown down the gauntlet, by declaring his ambition to gatecrash the top duo of Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. He is within striking distance of Federer and therefore he has all the motivation to put forward a great tournament in Brisbane. BetUS bookies favour his chances at -500, and rightly so after Djokovic raced to win the Tennis Masters title at the very end of last season, improving on his stock in the marketplace that had seen a bit of a decline during an unproductive stretch in the summer months.