With the beginning of 2023, the tennis world sets sights on the first Grand Slam tournament of the season: the Australian Open, to be held in Melbourne between January 17 and 30.
But because of the geographical position, the start date of the Australian Open in America will be January 16, 2023, and it will end on Sunday, January 29, Australia’s date.
The semifinals of the men’s tournament will be on Friday, January 27, while the men’s final will be on Sunday, January 29. The final of the women’s tournament will take place on January 28.
The courts chosen for this tournament will be the Margaret Court Arena, and the Rod Laver Arena, in Melbourne, Australia.
At the Australian Open 2022, in the men’s event, Spain’s Rafael Nadal won with a score of 2-6, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4, and 7-5 against Russia’s Daniil Medvedev. Meanwhile, in the women’s event, Ashleigh Barty defeated Danielle Collins in the final, 6-3, 7-6, to win the women’s singles tennis title.
Betting Favorites
In the last hours, the main favorites for the betting sites were announced. The surprise appeared in the first name.
Novak Djokovic is the top favorite for bookmakers, paying a total of +115 to lift the championship title.
However, he is not the only favorite. In second place, world number one Carlos Alcaraz appears with a total of +600, almost six times what Novak Djokovic is currently paying.
There is also the Russian Daniil Medvedev with +800 and Nick Kyrgios with +1200. However, the surprise appears in Rafael Nadal, the fifth favorite for betting with a total of +1200, to add his 23rd Grand Slam title and thus revalidate the one obtained in 2022.
Recall that Novak Djokovic had controversy over his stance on the COVID-19 vaccine at the Australia Open 2022, but has been allowed to return to the courts of Melbourne to compete and is one of the favorites to win the championship trophy.
The 23-year-old tennis player Casper Ruud could be the revelation of this tournament. The odds for Ruud to win the Australian Open are +2500, which is very well-paid as he is a player with little experience; even so, he is fourth in the ATP singles tour world ranking.
Nadal has a hard time defending the title
It is the first time in his career that Rafa Nadal has suffered two consecutive defeats at the season’s official start.
The elimination of Spain leaves the Spaniard without opportunities to test himself before the arrival of the Australian Open, where he defends the title won last year in an approach to the first Grand Slam of the year.
Carlos Alcaraz is not living his best tennis moment either, after overcoming an injury that sidelined him from competition at the end of last season.
Alcaraz, number one in the ATP ranking, will not play any official matches before the Australia Open. However, in his return to the courts, in the Abu Dhabi exhibition tournament, he suffered two apparent defeats against Andrey Rublev (6-2 and 6-1) and Casper Ruud (6-1 and 6-4) that left a bitter taste in the mouth of the player from Murcia at the end of December.
The betting odds for all participants in the Australia Open are as follows:
- Novak Djokovic +115
- Carlos Alcaraz +600
- Daniil Medvedev +800
- Rafael Nadal+1200
- Nick Kyrgios+1200
- Jannik Sinner +1600
- Stefanos Tsitsipas +1800
- Felix Auger-Aliassime +1800
- Holger Vitus Nodskov Rune +1800
- Alexander Zverev +2000
- Casper Ruud +2500
- Taylor Fritz +2800
- Andrey Rublev +3500
- Matteo Berrettini +5000
- Hubert Hurkacz +5000
- Dominic Thiem +5000
- Denis Shapovalov +6500
- Jack Draper +6500
- Sebastian Korda +6500
- Borna Coric +6500
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