Tag: Australian Open

Odds, lines and how to bet the Australian Open men’s final between Rafael Nadal and Daniil Medvedev

Rafael Nadal can clinch the all-time Grand Slam wins record with a win over Daniil Medvedev at the Australian Open

Rafael Nadal defeated Matteo Berrettini in the Australian Open semifinals to come within one match of setting the all-time Grand Slam wins record. 

Tied at 20 career major wins with Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, Nadal will face Russian Daniil Medvedev in the Men’s singles final. Ranked No. 2 in the world, Medvedev beat Stefanos Tsitsipas in the semis and presents a challenge to Nadal’s pursuit of history. 

Medvedev, who lost in the 2021 Australian Open final, is the betting favorite at Tipico Sportsbook to win this time around, with -205 odds on his moneyline. Nadal enters the championship round +155. The two have played four previous times, with Nadal winning three, including the 2019 US Open final. However, Medvedev won their last meeting in 2020. 

Medvedev is also the reigning US Open champion, having clinched his first career major title in 2021 with a win over Djokovic. He has a chance to make his own history by becoming the first man in the Open Era to win a second Grand Slam in the very next major tournament.

The 25-year-old Russian has faced more challenges heading into this championship match, though, needing 97 games over the last two rounds to advance—including three tie-breakers and a semifinal blowup.

Ten years his senior, Nadal has played just 82 games in that span. He also has two straight set wins against one for Medvedev, which included another of his seven tiebreakers this tournament. 

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Those numbers put great value on Nadal’s +122 odds as a set winner, and make the over 40.5 games at -110 odds a good bet, too. There are -114 odds for under 40.5 games and Medvedev has -165 odds as a set winner.

Considering how the two are playing as they enter the final, and the history on the line for Nadal, the Spaniard should also be able to put up a fight against the odds for him to win it all. 

The Australian Open men’s final is scheduled to take place at 3:30 a.m. ET on Sunday.

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Odds, lines and how to bet the Australian Open women’s final between Ashleigh Barty and Danielle Collins

The Australian Open women’s final is set. Should you take the favorite Barty, or bet on the underdog in Collins?

World No. 1 Ashleigh Barty will have a chance to win a third career grand slam in front of a home crowd when she faces American Danielle Collins in the Australian Open final. 

Barty reached the title round with a win over Madison Keys, while the 27th-seeded Collins (ranked 30th) upset No. 7 Iga Swiatek to get there.

It’s the first career grand slam final for Collins, who will enter the match as a massive underdog. The odds on her moneyline are +350 versus -520 for Barty on Tipico Sportsbook, and the odds on either to win a set are +240 for Collins and -350 for Barty.

However long the odds are, there is reason to believe Collins could give Barty a match.

Though Barty won three of the previous four head-to-head meetings between the two, Collins won three of the last five sets they’ve played since 2020, including a straight-set match win in their last meeting in 2021. Only one of their four matches resulted in a straight-set loss for Collins.

Of course, the way Barty is playing going into the final would suggest a bet against her to win is unwise. She hasn’t dropped a single set this tournament, losing more than three games just once out of the 12 sets she’s won. Collins has dropped two sets this tournament and had another go to seven games in the quarters. But she’s also riding high going into the final after winning 6-4, 6-1 in the semifinals.

Collins had only reached the semis of a grand slam once prior to this tournament, at the 2019 Australian Open. To finally breakthrough for her first final and have to face the top-ranked player in the world who has home-court advantage is a tough draw. A win is unlikely, but the odds are favorable enough to put a little something on Collins to at least take a set. That also puts the over on 20.5 games in play at -107 odds. Odds on the under are -118.

The Australian Open women’s final is scheduled for 3:30 a.m. ET on Saturday.

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Novak Djokovic’s 2022 Australian Open controversy, explained

What’s going on here?

Welcome to FTW Explains, a guide to catching up on and better understanding stuff going on in the world. You may have seen a lot of news lately about Novak Djokovic and the 2022 Australian Open and wondered: What’s going on there? We’re here to help.

The first tennis Grand Slam of the year is coming in two weeks, with the 2022 Australian Open beginning on Jan. 17.

Novak Djokovic — who has won the tournament nine times including the last three Aussie Opens — appeared to be a part of it … but now it looks like that may not happen.

What’s the deal and the controversy? Let’s break it down:

Naomi Osaka shares ‘the coolest thing’ she hopes to achieve in her career

After her fourth Grand Slam title, Naomi Osaka reflected on her big-picture career goals.

After a close first set in the Australian Open final, Naomi Osaka cruised to her second Aussie Open title and her fourth overall Grand Slam victory, beating Jennifer Brady, 6-4, 6-3, on Saturday.

Ranked No. 3 in the world, Osaka is now 4-0 in major finals and became the first woman to win her first four Grand Slam finals since Monica Seles 30 years ago, the Associated Press noted.

At just 23 years old, it sure seems like Osaka is the future of tennis. And while she’s still early in her career, it’s impossible not to imagine where she could end up in the history books and what records she could set.

The same goes for how she could continue to impact the sport.

Following Osaka’s win over world No. 24 Brady, she was asked during her post-match press conference about the biggest thing she hopes to achieve on or off the court that she hasn’t done yet. Her answer was something she’s also familiar with herself.

Osaka said:

“I feel like the biggest thing I want to achieve is — this is gonna sound really odd — hopefully I play long enough to play a girl that said that I was once her favorite player or something.

“For me, I think that’s the coolest thing that could ever happen to me. I think I have those feelings of watching my favorite players. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to play Li Na, but yeah, I just think that that’s how the sport moves forward.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idmw9aWm3K8

While Osaka is disappointed she never got to play against Li — the two-time Grand Slam champ, including at the Australian Open, who retired in 2014 — she’s played several matches against her “idol,” Serena Williams. Most recently, Osaka topped Williams in the Aussie Open semifinals Wednesday and had to beat her in the 2018 U.S. Open final on her way to her first Grand Slam title.

Prior to that 2018 final, Osaka said she should view Williams as just another opponent and not her idol. But when she was asked if she had a message for Serena going into the match, Osaka laughed while saying: “I love you.”

Between how young Osaka is now as one of the best players in the world and how long some players’ careers are lasting, tennis fans surely hope Osaka will someday get the chance to face an opponent who once idolized her.

https://youtu.be/e2ocoIZSIyY

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Naomi Osaka had a hilarious moment with Jennifer Brady during her victory speech

This was incredible

Naomi Osaka is one of the best tennis players in the world at just 23 years old.

She won her fourth Grand Slam on Saturday morning at the Australian Open after beating her opponent, Jennifer Brady, in straight sets. She completely dominated on her way to her title.

But that didn’t stop her from being her usual charming self during her victory speech. She took the time out to praise Brady for her growth and how hard she competed in the final, but it didn’t come without a hilarious moment.

During her speech, she asked Brady whether she liked to be called “Jenny or Jennifer” to which Brady responded “Jenny.”

So what does Osaka do? She accidentally calls her Jennifer. It was hilarious.

And yet, still, the praise she gave her overshadowed that slip up.

“Firstly, I want to congratulate Jennifer. We played in the semis of the US Open, so a couple of months ago I told everyone that would listen that you’re going to be a problem. And I was right.” 

She’s the ultimate competitor and the ultimate sportswoman. You can’t help but be a fan of Naomi Osaka.

https://youtu.be/e2ocoIZSIyY

Daniil Medvedev completely trolled the Australian Open crowd rooting against him in win

Savage.

We’ve seen this before from Daniil Medvedev.

In 2019, at the U.S. Open he slyly put up his middle finger to the angry crowd in Queens — who didn’t appreciate his antics that included throwing a towel offered to him from a ballperson — and then thanked fans after a win for feeding him with their energy.

This time, at the 2021 Australian Open, he defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas — who had upset Rafael Nadal earlier this week — in front of a clearly pro-Tsitsipas crowd. And after he hit a stunner of a passing shot for a winner, they barely flinched. So he stirred them up with this gesture:

Here’s what he said about it:

Can we go back to that shot for a sec?

Man.

He’s on to the finals to face Novak Djokovic.

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Naomi Osaka hilariously calls out her sister with post-Australian Open win message

LOL what?!

I am a huge fan of the “writing a message on the glass in front of the camera” tradition after tennis matches (see what Jessica Pegula has done with them).

So I fully expected Naomi Osaka to say something to her fans after a straight-sets win over Serena Williams in the 2021 Australian Open semi-finals. But nope! She wrote this: “Mari stop sending [weird] images in the groupchat!”

That’s a message to her sister Mari, who I guess has been sending weird images in a groupchat with Naomi and others. That’s a pretty funny public callout right there!

Here’s the moment:

And here’s what appears to be Mari’s answer on Instagram (and WARNING: it’s weird!!!!)

GAHHHHH! I agree with Naomi.

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A tearful Serena Williams abruptly ended her press conference after losing to Naomi Osaka

Could this be her final Australian Open?

It might have been a tough thing to consider for Serena Williams after losing in straight sets to Naomi Osaka on Thursday: was this the last Australian Open for the 39-year-old legend?

There are a lot of people who are reading extremely hard into Williams thanking the crowd at Rod Laver Arena with a hand over her heart, perhaps a gesture of what the fans down under mean to her.

When asked about that gesture at her post-match press conference, Williams replied, “If I ever say farewell, I wouldn’t tell anyone.”

After the next question, Williams began getting tearful and walked out:

She then posted a thank-you note to Australian Open fans on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CLbB6shnQDi/

Does that sound like she’s saying goodbye? Everyone will continue to try to read into what she’s saying.

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