Tennis: The Australian Open

The Australian Open - Betting Odds / Tips

Grand Slam 1 – Mid January > Late January

Chronologically, the Australian Open is the first of the Tennis Grand Slams tournaments, lasting from mid to late January.

The tournament originated in 1905 as The Australasian Championships. In 1927 it then became the Australian Championships, before finally being named the Australian Open in 1969. Since it originated the tournament has been hosted by five different cities, Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane and Perth. It has now stopped moving though and, from the 1988 Open to the present day, it has been hosted annually in Melbourne in Melbourne Park (formerly Flinders Park) in order to meet the growing demands of an evolving tournament.

From the days of the Australasian Championships, the tournament had suffered from the competition of other Australasian tournaments, but nowadays it is one of the most popular tournaments in the tennis community. Typically, the tournament has a huge attendance and has set the record of the highest attendance of any grand Slam tournament with 62,885.

Just like the following three Grand Slam tournaments the Australian Open offers singles and doubles competitions for both men and women as well as mixed doubles, junior and masters competitions. The tournament is staged in the middle of the Australian summer and is famous for its notoriously hot playing conditions. Temperatures have reached such high and dangerous temperatures that an extreme heat policy has had to be put in place to protect players.

This year’s men’s tournament was won by Novak Djokovic, who was the third seed going into the tournament. Roger Federer, the first seed, didn’t even make the final, showing a break in his form. His is at present likely to be 2009’s favourite for the event. Maria Sharapova dominated the ladies’ events, coming away with a comfortable win. She is in good stead to be next year’s favourite.

Here are the ten most recent winners of the tournament including this year’s winners:

Year Men Women

2008 Novak Djokovic Maria Sharapova
2007 Roger Federer Serena Williams
2006 Roger Federer Amelie Mauresmo
2005 Marat Safin Serena Williams
2004 Roger Federer Justine Henin-Hardenne
2003 Andre Agassi Serena Williams
2002 Thomas Johansson Jennifer Capriati
2001 Andre Agassi Jennifer Capriati
2000 Andre Agassi Lindsay Davenport
1999 Yevgeny Kafelnikov Martina Hingis

We will, as usual, provide betting odds and previews for next year’s tournament nearer the time. For odds on the other Grand Slam tournaments still to be played this year, including Wimbledon, please visit our Odds Comparison Page.