The Christmas period is a rather boring time for sports lovers. At this time, most athletes go on vacation, football and hockey championships are paused. But fans of tennis and the athletes themselves at this time, live in anticipation of the start of the first Grand Slam tournament – the Australian Open. The matches of the men’s and women’s singles tournaments attract the most attention. It is understandable: the strongest athletes come to Melbourne.
Events of the Australian Open level attract the attention of not only athletes and fans. The Australian Open is also interesting for bookmakers and bettors. Already today, a few weeks before the start of the tournament, bookmakers are trying to predict the future owner of the Norman Brooks Challenge (the cup is awarded to the winner of the men’s singles tournament). If you also decide to join the army of many millions of bettors, we recommend Pin up uz bookmaker. The company has all the documents for legal work in Uzbekistan, is distinguished by reliability, quality of the site and mobile applications.
History reference
Melbourne first hosted the tournament in 1904. The first years of the championship brought together athletes from two countries: New Zealand and Australia. Tennis matches were held on open grass courts. Subsequently, tennis stars from other countries began to come to Melbourne, but the tournament received the status of the Australian Open only in 1969.
Today the Australian Open is one of the five most prestigious Grand Slam tournaments. It is in Australia that a new season starts every year. Championship matches are played on six indoor hard courts. Winning on the courts of Melbourne guarantees prestige, ranking points and good prize money. Suffice it to say that the prize fund of the Australian Open last year was about 50 million US dollars.
Case of Djokovic
Serb Novak Djokovic set an unprecedented record in Melbourne, he won the Norman Brooks Challenge 9 times. Perhaps last year, Novak could have won the tournament for the tenth time, but he was simply not allowed into Australia, citing incorrectly completed documents. Today, the Australian government and society are debating whether to allow Djokovic to Melbourne. The decision has not yet been made. therefore, it is not clear whether the Serb will be able to update his record.
Meanwhile, despite the fact that Novak is only seventh in the ATP rankings, according to experts, he is the most likely contender to win the Australian Open.
Rafael Nadal to defend the title
In the absence of Djokovic, Nadal was able to easily win the tournament in 2022. This time, apparently, Novak will not come either, so the Spaniard has every chance to repeat his last year’s success. Today Rafa is in great shape, he is on the second line of the ranking and is ready to storm the tennis peaks. However, bookmakers are not so optimistic about Nadal’s chances: the odds are 1 to 9 for the Spaniard to win.
Carlos Alcaraz: Rise to the Top
Countryman Rafael Carlos Alcaraz burst into the elite of big tennis only a couple of years ago. The young Spaniard won his first ATP series tournament in 2021, and a year later he triumphantly won the US Open. Thanks to a stable game, Carlos managed to lead the ATP rankings. According to experts, the main problem of Alcaraz is insufficient psychological stability. In addition, Carlos is not always stable on hard surfaces. However, these shortcomings are more than compensated by excellent physical shape, good technical equipment and a thirst for victories. In the absence of Djokovic, the Spaniard becomes the main contender for the title, bookmakers estimate his chances as 1 to 4.
