tony75

Rodger Federer will start overwhelming favourite for the 2008 Australian Open, winner of 38 million dollars, 12 Grand Slams and 53 career titles, all the Smart money will be on the Swiss Superstar.
But is Federer a good Bet at $1.66? I for one would bet he would win two out of three tournaments on this surface.
Competition in Melbourne will come from Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Roddick and Andy Murray.
Novak Djokovic from Serbia pressed Federer in the 2007 US Open final and furthermore the world number three adds a breath of entertainment to men’s tennis.

Andy Murray my outsider for the tournament recently won the Qatar open in Doha, the 20 year old from Scotland who is on his way back from a wrist injury may just produce some surprises at this years opening Grand Slam.
The top ten in Melbourne are:

Player Nation Odds to win
FEDERER.R SUI 1.66
DJOKOVIC.N SRB 7.00
NADAL.R ESP 11.00
NALBANDIAN ARG 13.00
MURRAY A GBR 17.00
HEWITT L AUS 21.00

Justine Henin from Belgium was a winner of 5.4 million dollars in 2007 on the WTA Circuit. The 25 year old missed the Australian Open last year, but came back strongly winning ten titles including Roland Garros and the US Open.
The world number one is a great show at this years open, but is far too short at $2.40.
Breathing down Hennins neck in Melbourne are Maria Sharapova, Ana Ivanovic, Serena Williams and Nicole Vaidisova.

Serena Williams always unpredictable is the reining Australian Open Champion and showed by her performance at this years Hopman Cup that the American has come here to play.
In fact Serena looks fitter than last year and if she gets a suitable draw the 26 year old will walk away with her forth Australian Open.

Nicole Vaidisova from the Czech Republic is my outsider, she was a semi finalist last year and with another 12 months experience behind her, the 18 year old could upset some big names in Melbourne.
The top ten in the Ladies are:

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Roc Oil is one of Australia’s leading independent oil and gas companies, the stock has retraced back below $3.00 recently, but could become a $10.00 stock in the future, especially with oil touching the magic $100 mark.

Realestate.Com.au Limited (REA) is a very small media company it booked an 83.2 per cent increase annual profit last year and management is looking for opportunities to enter new markets all the time.
With a near monopoly in its area on the web, I recommend it as a Buy currently at $7.00.

What a wide-open men’s draw for the 2008 Medibank International in Sydney.
Current Champion James Blake will have his work cut out as the American only won 2 titles last year in Sydney and New Haven and I can not see him adding one here.

Lleyton Hewitt has a great record in Sydney and is always a chance on the new surface, but the 26-year-old never got it together in 2007 and looks past his best.
A lot will depend on the luck of the draw for Hewitt.
The top 8 in the men’s at Sydney are:

Player Nation Odds to win
Richard Gasquet FRA 4.00
Tommy Robredo ESP 4.60
James Blake USA 3.90
Tomas Berdych CZE 4.20
Carlos Moya ESP 6.00
Lleyton Hewitt AUS 4.50
Paul-H Mathieu FRA 6.50
F. Verdasco ESP 9.00

Odds courtesy of betfair as at 3/1/2008.

My tip Tommy Robredo the 25 year old from Spain is in the same mould as Lleyton Hewitt, but the man from Spain is hungry for victory.
Tony75.

Who could back against Justine Henin a winner of 5.4 million dollars in 2007 the 25 year old from Belgium is the one to beat here in Sydney. Justine missed the Australian open in 2007, but more than made up for it with wins at the French and US opens.
So who will beat Henin in Sydney?

Stiff competition will come from Serbia in the form of Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic the Serbian pair rocketed up the rankings last year and will give this field a run for their money.
Svetlana Kuznetsova the world number 2 was runner up in the US open in 2007 and the Russian is starting to play with confidence, it could just be the 22 year olds year.
The top 8 in the women’s in Sydney are:

Player Nation Odds to win
Justine Henin BEL 2.00
S Kuznetsova RUS 4.50
Jalena Jankovic SRB 4.80
Ana Ivanovic SRB 5.00
A Chakvetactze RUS 6.00
D Hantuchova SVK 8.50
Marion Bartoli FRA 7.50
E Dementieva RUS 9.00

Odds courtesy of betfair as at 3/1/2008.

Eight nations are selected annually to compete in the Hopman Cup Tennis in Perth from 29/12/07 to 4/1/08. Each team consists of one male player and one female player. Each match-up between two teams at the championships consists of:

· one women's singles match
· one men's singles match
· one mixed doubles match

Each year the eight competing teams are separated into two groups of four (with two teams being seeded) and face-off against each of the other three teams in their group in a round-robin format. These seedings do not have much of an impact, as all teams meet each other regardless. The top team in each group then meet in a final to decide the champions.
The team lists this year are :

Group A Players Odds to win

Serbia Jelena Jankovic, Novak Djokovic 2.10
France Tatiana Golovin, Arnaud Clement 5.10
Argentina Gisela Dulko, Juan Ignacio Chela 32.00
Chinese Taipei Su-Wei Hsieh, Yen-Hsun Lu 50.00

Group B Players Odds to win