The first major tournament of 2016 will kick off "Down Under" at the Australian Open.
Surprises are always abound early and often in this tournament, but when the dust finally settles, it's often the big name players who are the ones in the running to win the Aussie Open.
Men's Australian Open Betting Odds at BookMaker.eu
Novak Djokovic -130 Andy Murray +535
Rafael Nadal +1100
Roger Federer +1150
Stanislas Wawrinka +1400
Kei Nishikori +2500
Tomas Berdych +6000
Grigor Dimitrov +6000
Nick Kyrgios +6500
Marin Cilic +6500
Milos Raonic +8500
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga +8500
Bernard Tomic +10000
David Ferrer +10000
Gael Monfils +10000
Juan Martin Del Potro +10500
Kevin Anderson +10550
John Isner +12000
Richard Gasquet +15000
Dominic Thiem +15000
Borna Coric +17500
Gilles Simon +20000 Alexandr Dolgopolov +20000
David Goffin +20000
Jerzy Janowicz +20000
One look at the history of the men's side of the Australian Open will tell you all you need to know about who is really capable of winning. Novak Djokovic won this event last year, and he's proven victorious in four of the last five years and five of the last seven overall. The man who has turned up the runner up in four of the last seven years has been Andy Murray, and the only other finalists dating back to 2009 were Rafael Nadal (winner in 2009, runner up in 2012 and 2014), Roger Federer (runner up in 2009, winner in 2010) and Stanislas Wawrinka (winner in 2014).
As Wawrinka proved though, there definitely is still a place for someone to come in from the outside of the "Big Four."
Kei Nishikori and Grigor Dimitrov are the men we'd figure to make a good run outside of the usual suspects. Nishikori in particular had a strong year in 2015 and figures to make some strides in the right direction in 2016. He's arguably the best Japanese player in the history of men's tennis, and he would be the first male finalist at the Aussie Open in the tournament's history if he made it that far.
Women's Australian Open Betting Odds at BookMaker.eu
Serena Williams +195
Maria Sharapova +700 Victoria Azarenka +825
Simona Halep +1100
Garbine Muguruza +1300
Petra Kvitova +1400
Belinda Bencic +2000
Agnieszka Radwanska +2000
Madison Keys +3300
Karolina Pliskova +4000
Caroline Wozniacki +4000
Eugenie Bouchard +4500
Sloane Stephens +4500
Angelique Kerber +4991
Venus Williams +5250
Ana Ivanovic +5371
Ekaterina Makarova +5500
Lucie Safarova +6337
Dominika Cibulkova +6600
Samantha Stosur +7426
Caroline Garcia +8500
Sabine Lisicki +9504
Jelena Jankovic +9505
Elina Svitolina +10000
Timea Bacsinszky +10000
Carla Suarez Navarro +12500
Andrea Petkovic +14998
The only thing that separated Serena Williams from a Grand Slam last year was a loss in the semifinals of the U.S. Open. She stormed through the Aussie Open last year, dropping just two sets along the way to knock off Maria Sharapova in the finale 6-3, 7-6 (7-5).
Last year though, there were a few other players who made some massive strides forward. Keep an eye on American Madison Keys, a woman we would fancy to make at least one of the Grand Slam finals this year. She was a semifinalist last year and was beaten by Williams, but along the way at the Aussie Open, she toppled Venus Williams and Petra Kvitova.
Still, the favored woman has to be Serena. She might be getting up there in age at 34, but she certainly has the ability to dominate once again this year throughout all of the events on the calendar, saving her best for the majors. In fact, it would really be a shock to us if she didn't make at least the semifinal of the Australian Open, and at that point, no one would bet against under winning it.
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Click here, and deposit at BookMaker now! The Australian Open will begin on Monday, January 18, 2016 and continue through the finals on Sunday, January 31, 2016 at Melbourne Park. Live matches will be seen throughout the tourney on the Tennis Channel and the ESPN family of networks.
