The Australian Open is an annual tennis competition which is held at Melbourne Park Tennis Complex. It is the first of four Grand Slam events which dominate the tennis calendar each year and it is typically played from mid-January onwards. The tournament is always contested over a two-week period and it is watched by sports fans all over the world.
The first staging of the tournament took place in 1905 and regarded as one of the biggest sporting events to be held in the Southern Hemisphere.
The tournament is also synonymous with soaring temperatures as it’s held in Australian midsummer. Players can often be seen struggling in the sweltering condition although the fine weather does help attract legions of supporters to Melbourne each year. Over 700,000 tennis fans attended the event in 2018.
It is one of two Grand Slam events which are held on the hard courts and there are a number of warm-up events preceding the tournament which are held in Brisbane and Sydney. Prior to 1988, it was held on grass courts and this coincided with the tournament’s permanent move to Melbourne.
Three players share the highest number of victories in the tournament with Roy Emerson, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer each clinching six titles at the event. Emerson won five consecutive titles in the 1960s whilst Novak Djokovic won in 2011, 2012, 2013 and in 2015.
Winners of the tournament will be awarded 2000 ranking points.
The men’s tournament is always hugely competitive and it often throws up a few surprises along the way. Ken Rosewall became the youngest winner of the tournament back in 1953 at the age of 18 years and 2 months.
The 2019 Australian Open Prediction Report
As one of the most successful players in the history of the game, Roger Federer was always likely to be prominent in the betting and he was chalked up as the favourite for the 2019 Australian Open. The Swiss maestro was given a 25.00% implied probability of success at this year’s tournament. He was the holder going into the event after securing the 2018 title.
Federer reached the final of the Hopman Cup at the beginning of 2019 and was knocked out of the ATP World Tour Finals by eventual winner Alexander Zverev at the end of 2018. Despite being 38 in August, Federer still looks on top of his game and with his great record at the tournament, he is likely to be popular with punters.
Rafael Nadal is synonymous with success at the French Open and although he favours the clay, he is always dangerous to write off his chances in any Grand Slam. The Majorcan was given a 20.00% implied probability and although he’s only ever won the tournament once, he could take advantage of a relatively kind draw. He won 38 of his 46 games on the hard courts last season and progressed to the semi-finals of the US Open last year.
Novak Djokovic appears to have recovered from his injury problems and he is back fit and firing. The Serbian struggled for consistency last year but he always enjoys it at the opening Grand Slam of the year. He was given an implied probability of 18.18% implied probability for this year’s event. He played just 38 times in 2018 but progressed to the Semi-Finals in Doha earlier in January.
ATP Tour Finals winner Alexander Zverev has a bright future in the game and he has been given 7.69% implied probability for the 2019 Australian Open. He doesn’t have much experience at this tournament but is expected to be a danger to other top five players.
Andy Murray has been side-lined by a persistent hip injury for the last 18 months but was expected to make his return at the 2019 Australian Open. The Scot was also given a 7.69% implied probability for this year’s event.
Grigor Dimitrov and Marin Cilic struggle for consistency and they have both been given a 6.67% implied probability.
2018 Australian Open
Roger Federer went into the tournament trying to retain his title and the ageless Swiss was able to successfully fend off the challenge of Marin Cillic in the final.
The final was an epic encounter with Cillic giving his opponent several scares along the way. The match ended 6-2, 6-7, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1. The Croatian went into the tournament as the fifth seed and once again, he wasn’t able to usurp Federer.
Hyeon Chung and Kyle Edmund both unexpectedly reached the semi-finals of the tournament but both fell short of reaching their first-ever Grand Slam final.
