Australian Open Betting Preview: Djokovic, Murray, Serena favorites

OddsSharkJan 13, 2017, 2:28 PM EST

The two men who met for the 2016 Australian Open singles title are the co-favorites to win this year in Melbourne, as defending champion Novak Djokovic and runner-up Andy Murray are both listed at +150 (bet $100 to win $150) at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.

Murray beat Djokovic at the ATP World Tour Finals last November to take over the title as the top-ranked player in the world from his rival for the first time. Last year, Murray won Wimbledon and the gold medal in men’s singles at the Rio Olympics while Djokovic won the Australian Open and the French Open.

Stan Wawrinka upset Djokovic for the 2016 U.S. Open title, and he is the third choice to win the 2017 Australian Open at +1100 ahead of other contenders like Rafael Nadal (+1200), Milos Raonic (+1600) and Roger Federer (+1600). Nadal and Federer are former champions.

Wawrinka is the only other player besides Djokovic to win the men’s singles championship at Melbourne since Federer last won it in 2010 over Murray, who has been the runner-up in five of the previous seven years and gone more than three sets twice.

Federer is a four-time Australian Open champ and lost to Djokovic in one semifinal last year as the third seed while Raonic fell to Murray in the other semifinal.

On the women’s side, six-time Australian Open champion Serena Williams is the +200 betting favorite, but she has only one title in Melbourne over the past six years, with the last coming in 2015. Williams was upset last year by seventh-seeded Angelique Kerber, who won 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 for her first Grand Slam title.

Kerber followed that up by winning the U.S. Open last September after Williams fell in the semifinals to Karolina Pliskova.

Kerber is the +350 second choice on the tennis betting lines for the Australian Open while Pliskova, Simona Halep and Garbine Muguruza are all +800. Halep reached the quarterfinals in Melbourne each of the last three years and is still seeking her first Grand Slam title. Muguruza won last year’s French Open for her first Grand Slam title, defeating Williams in straight sets.

The lone Grand Slam title for Williams in 2016 came at Wimbledon, which she has won seven times.

Jabeur bounces back at French Open, Ruud and Andreeva advance

Associated PressMay 30, 2023, 11:32 AM EDT

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PARIS — Ons Jabeur got a do-over on Court Philippe Chatrier at the French Open and won this time.

A year after her first-round exit, the No. 7 seed Jabeur beat Lucia Bronzetti 6-4, 6-1 to help erase some bad memories and answer questions about a recent calf injury.

The Tunisian, a crowd favorite in Paris, smiled and expressed relief in not repeating last year’s mistake, when she lost to Magda Linette of Poland.

“I’m very happy to win my first match on Philippe Chatrier – because I’ve never won here,” Jabeur said on court about the clay-court tournament’s main stadium.

Now she can focus on trying to win her first major. She was runner-up at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open last year.

The 28-year-old Jabeur has also battled injuries this season. She had knee surgery after the Australian Open, and was then sidelined with a calf injury. She had stopped playing against top-ranked Iga Swiatek at the clay-court tournament in Stuttgart, Germany, in late April and then pulled out of the Madrid Open.

“It was a very difficult period for me after Stuttgart,” said Jabeur, adding that she’s beginning to find her rhythm.

Jabeur struck 27 winner’s to Bronzetti’s seven, though with 24 unforced errors she’ll have room to improve.

Mirra Andreeva had a memorable Grand Slam debut by dominating Alison Riske-Amritraj 6-2, 6-1. Andreeva’s older sister – 18-year-old Erika – was facing Emma Navarro later in the day.

Later, Swiatek gets her French Open title defense started against Cristina Bucsa, who is ranked 70th.

On the men’s side, No. 4 seed Casper Ruud beat qualifier Elias Ymer 6-4, 6-3, 6-2, to remind the higher-profile tournament favorites that he was runner-up to Rafael Nadal last year at Roland Garros.

New mom Elina Svitolina beats seeded player at French Open in 1st Slam match in 16 months

Associated PressMay 30, 2023, 11:27 AM EDT

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PARIS — So much has changed for Elina Svitolina, who played – and won – her first Grand Slam match in nearly 1 1/2 years at the French Open, eliminating 2022 semifinalist Martina Trevisan 6-2, 6-2.

For one thing, she’s now a mother: Svitolina and her husband, French tennis player Gael Monfils, welcomed their daughter, Skaï, in October. For another, Svitolina is now ranked 192nd, nowhere near the career high of No. 3 she first reached in 2017, back in the days when she was regularly reaching the second weeks of major tournaments – including a pair of semifinal runs. Away from the courts, her home country of Ukraine was invaded by Russia last year, and the war continues.

“Everything,” she said, “is kind of old and new for me right now.”

In sum, Svitolina is juggling a lot nowadays.

She hadn’t played at a Slam since a third-round exit at the Australian Open in January 2022. She hadn’t played a match anywhere since March 2022, when she was still ranked 20th.

“It was always in my head … to come back, but I didn’t put any pressure on myself, because obviously with the war going on, with the pregnancy, you never know how complicated it will go,” the 28-year-old Svitolina said.

The work to return to the tour after giving birth began this January; her initial WTA match came at Charleston, South Carolina, in April. She won her first title since returning to action, at a smaller event on red clay in Strasbourg, France.

At Roland Garros, she used her big forehand to compile a 20-12 edge in winners and never faced a single break point against Trevisan, who was seeded 26th.

Trevisan cried as she spoke after the match about a problem with her right foot that made it difficult to even walk and prompted her to stop playing during her quarterfinal last week at the Morocco Open, where she was the defending champion.

Still, she gave Svitolina credit.

“Even though she’s just coming back from having a daughter, she’s a champion,” Trevisan said. “And she’s coming off a title, so she’s confident.”

Svitolina talked about feeling “awful when you’re pregnant, especially the last months,” but getting into a position now where she thinks she’s stronger than before – in more ways than one.

“I feel that I can handle the work that I do off the court and, match by match, I’m getting better. Also mentally, because mental (state) can influence your physicality, as well,” she said. “I tried to find the balance, and I feel like I’m seeing (things) a little bit again differently as well after the break. Everything is getting there. The puzzles are getting slowly into place.”