Tag: Australian Open 2023

Novak Djokovic is a huge favorite ahead of his Australian Open final vs. Stefanos Tsitsipas on Sunday

Looking at the lines for Djokovic-Tsitsipas.

The stage is set. Stefanos Tsitsipas will face Novak Djokovic on Sunday in Melbourne in the men’s singles final at this year’s Australian Open.

Tsitsipas, the tournament’s No. 3 seed, will enter the championship match as the clear underdog despite holding a higher seed than the fourth-seeded Djokovic. BetMGM might be taking into account the fact that Djokovic is a nine-time Australian Open champion, which would explain his (-500) odds at the sportsbook.

Djokovic also entered this tournament as BetMGM’s odds-on favorite. If he can finish the job against Tsitsipas when they meet on Sunday, he’ll earn his 22nd Grand Slam title and tie Rafael Nadal for the most ever.

But the job won’t be easy even for one of the all-time greats. Stefanos, the 24-year-old up-and-comer, has dropped just three sets all tournament long and will be looking to land his first Grand Slam win.

How will this championship match play out?

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Aryna Sabalenka wins the Australian Open women’s singles final to earn first Grand Slam title

What a moment!

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a new Australian Open women’s singles champion. On Saturday in Melbourne, Aryna Sabalenka defeated Elena Rybakina in three sets to claim the tournament’s title.

Rybakina took the first set 6-4, putting Sabalenka in an immediate hole that she hadn’t faced yet in the lead-up to the final. But Sabalenka responded with an impressive 6-3 win in the second set before returning the favor to Rybakina and taking the third set 6-4 to win the championship match.

The championship match marked the only of Sabalenka’s seven total matches at the Open where she dropped a set, making her run to her first-ever Grand Slam title an outstanding one.

Here is her special moment:

The 24-year-old Belarusian champion had to lay down for a moment, shed some tears and soak it all in. What a feeling.

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Tommy Paul just did something no American has done at the Australian Open in 14 years

Can Tommy Paul ride this momentum and take down Novak Djokovic?

On Tuesday in Melbourne, Tommy Paul did something no American man has done in 14 years at the Australian Open: Advance to the tournament’s men’s singles semifinal round.

With the four-set victory over Ben Shelton on Day 10 of the Open, Paul also was able to advance to his first-ever Grand Slam semifinal.

Andy Roddick had been the most recent American to appear in the Open’s semis but went on to lose in that round to Roger Federer. Now, Paul will face a similar challenge when he faces Novak Djokovic, the odds-on favorite at BetMGM (-450) to win this year’s tournament.

Paul enters his match with Djokovic as the heavy underdog (+1000), and his +2000 odds are the longest of any of the field’s four remaining players. The winner of the match will face either Stefanos Tsitsipas or Karen Khachanov in the final.

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Australian Open 2023: Andy Murray comes back from down 2 sets to defeat Thanasi Kokkinakis and advance to third round

A legendary performance from one of the all-time greats.

If you haven’t been paying much attention to this year’s Australian Open, you likely missed an all-time moment.

Into the wee hours of the morning in Melbourne (past 4:00 a.m. local time, to be more specific), 35-year-old Andy Murray pulled off a miraculous comeback to defeat the younger Thanasi Kokkinakis in five sets and advance past the tournament’s second round.

Murray trailed Kokkinakis by two sets before kicking things into another gear and initiating the unforgettable comeback. The third set, which he fought tooth and nail for to stave off elimination, provided what could go down as the highlight of the Open.

The highlight:

The incredible defense during the rally earned Murray the game and eventually the set by the score of 7-6. He’d go on to take the fourth set 6-3 to set up a fifth and deciding one.

Of course, Murray’s huge comeback would’ve been meaningless without finishing it off with a victory. But Murray sealed the deal five hours and 45 minutes later after a 7-5 final-set win in what’s now officially the second-longest Australian Open match ever.

The comeback gave Murray his 11th win from down two sets, which is the most in the Open era.

Murray has +4000 odds at BetMGM to win the Australian Open.

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Australian Open 2023: Novak Djokovic and Iga Swiatek remain favorites to win men’s and women’s singles

The favorites remain the favorites.

The Australian Open 2023 is off and running. Over two days of action, several competitive matches and a few upsets on both the men’s and women’s sides have set the tone for the rest of the tournament.

BetMGM suggests the Australian Open could end with a couple of the world’s best hoisting trophies.

Novak Djokovic has won nine Australian Open titles in his career (a record), so despite being the No. 5 player in the world, his -125 odds at the sportsbook are the shortest of any remaining player in the field to win the tournament.

Daniil Medvedev (+450), Rafael Nadal (+1200), Stefanos Tsitsipas (+1400) and Taylor Fritz (+1800) round out the top-5 Australian Open title favorites for the men’s bracket.

Unlike the men’s singles, the odds-on favorite to win the women’s bracket isn’t a former Australian Open champion. Instead, the No. 1 player in the world, 21-year-old Iga Swiatek, is the tournament’s favorite with +220 odds.

Aryna Sabalenka (+700) and Jessica Pegula (+750) have the second and third-best odds to win the open while Coco Gauff (+1200), Caroline Garcia (+1200) and Belinda Bencic (+1200) all share the next-shortest title odds.

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