Australian Open 2017
The first of this year’s four major tennis tournaments begins Monday with the 105th edition of the Australian Open. The usual suspects are on top of the futures market; Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray are tied at +150 on the men’s side, while Serena Williams leads the women at +200. ESPN and ESPN2 will provide most of the television coverage.
Djokovic is the defending and six-time champion at Melbourne Park, but he had his ups and downs in 2016, losing his No. 1 ranking to Murray by the end of the year. However, Djokovic did defeat Murray last week in the finals of the Qatar Open in Doha. Murray has yet to win the Australian Open, losing four times to Djokovic in the finals and once to Roger Federer, who’s well down the odds list this year at +1600.
Williams has enjoyed a remarkable late-career run the past two years, including her sixth Australian Open title in 2015, but she lost to Angelique Kerber in last year’s finals. Kerber finished 2016 as the No. 1 women’s player; despite losing in the first round of her warm-up event in Sydney, she’s a close second favorite to defend her championship at +350.