Now that all the Grand Slams for 2011 are
over and done with, odds makers are turning their attentions to 2012
and there are some great value tennis bets out there, especially when it comes
to the big four.
Novak
Djokovic
After winning three of the big ones in 2011, including the US Open, and defeating Nadal twice on clay, Djokovic may be slightly troubled by how
close he came to recording the complete Grand Slam. It’s possible that a bad
start to his semi-final match with Federer in Paris was all that stood between him and four
Slams for the year.
So can Djokovic go one step further and win
the lot in 2012?
The unstoppable Serb certainly looks in no
mood to end his run anytime soon. Nobody outside the big four has gotten close to
defeating Djokovic this year and whilst we may see the Serb taking his foot off
the pedal a little in some of the Master’s events, it’s difficult to see how
any of the lesser names will get near him in the Slams.
Barring injury, you would have to expect
Djokovic to make the semi-finals of all four show piece events and once he’s
there you would make him favourite to beat any of the top names on any surface.
After defeating Nadal six times in six meetings this year, twice on clay, he
would probably even go into a Paris final as the favourite so whilst it’s a
huge ask for the ‘Serbinator’ to make a clean sweep of the 2012 Slams, it’s
certainly not beyond him and there are some great value tennis bets out there
which are worth looking at now.
The most exciting bet of the year could be
to back Djokovic to win The Golden Slam: all four Grand Slams plus Olympic
Gold.
2012 Djokovic Tennis Betting
Grand Slam Wins (Victor Chandler)
0 – 11/4
1 – 6/4
2 – 2/1
3 – 7/1
4 – 33/1
The Golden Slam – 50/1
Djokovic to go unbeaten in 2012 – 66/1
Rafa
Nadal
.jpg "Rafael Nadal")
The Spaniard has recorded three Grand Slam
finals and one victory in 2011 and whilst that’s an impressive enough year by
any standards Rafa will be going into 2012 with his confidence at an all-time
low, following six successive final defeats to Djokovic this year.
With 10 Grand Slam titles already to his
name, Nadal looked well on course to catch, and even surpass Roger Federer’s
current haul of 16 but with Djokovic now so dominant and the rigours of his
ultra-physical game maybe starting to take a toll on his body, people are
starting to question how much longer Nadal will go on and how many more slams
he can win.
It’s going to be tough for him to really
motivate himself at the hard court slams in 2012. He has to work so much harder
on this surface to reach the latter stages and if those latter stages promise
nothing more than a meeting with Djokovic and a likely defeat, I can see Nadal
falling earlier than usual in both these events.
Roland Garros is going to be a fascinating
one in 2012. It’s the only Slam Djokovic is yet to win and it’s the one Slam
Nadal will have his sights firmly set on for 2012. We are yet to be treated to
a Nadal v Djokovic final in Paris,
but it’s already looking like it could be THE match of 2012.
2012 Rafael Nadal Tennis Bets
To win a Grand Slam – Yes – 1/3
Grand Slam Wins – (William Hill)
0 – 5/2
1 – 6/5
2 – 15/8
3 – 8/1
4 – 33/1
Roger
Federer
2011 has proved to be a very bad year for Roger
Federer. For the first time since 2002 the Swiss has not won a Grand Slam and
with just a few Masters events left for the year he has not recorded any
success there either. Federer came within a ball’s width of defeating Djokovic
at Flushing Meadow’s in the semi-final, but with his recent record against
Nadal it’s likely he would only have fallen to the Spaniard in the final
anyway. An outstanding run at Roland Garros saw him become the first man this
year to defeat Novak Djokovic, but he was comprehensively beaten by Nadal in
the final. Twice in 2011 he lost two set leads in Grand Slam events, a fate
which has never befallen him until now.
So what does 2012 hold for the former World
No.1? Can Federer add to his record Slam haul of 16?
In fairness to Federer he has looked like
the only man who can cause Djokovic problems and whilst I’d expect Djokovic to
become more dominant over him in 2012, Federer still looks capable of beating
the Serb and certainly deserved to in New
York. Now aged 30 and a father of twins, Federer
knows he needs to prioritise. He won’t have given up on the dream of winning
more Slams just yet and you get the feeling there’s at least one more big
Wimbledon challenge in him.
The Australian Open can often see some
players looking a little rusty at the start of the season and I’d expect
Federer to be prioritising both this and Wimbledon
for 2012. He’d also love to bring home Olympic Gold at his adopted SW19 home
too.
For me there’s some real value in Federer
winning two Grand Slams in 2012, at 22/1.
2012 Roger Federer Tennis Bets
To win a Grand Slam – Yes – 13/8
Grand Slam Wins – (Victor Chandler)
0 – 8/15
1 – 13/8
2 – 22/1
3 – 80/1
4 – 250/1
Andy
Murray
The British No.1’s long wait for Grand Slam
success goes on. His backers will point to four semi-final appearances in 2011;
something which only seven men in the Open era have achieved. However, three of
those men are currently the three players who sit above him in the rankings and
three comprehensive semi-final defeats to Rafa Nadal and a complete
annihilation at the hands of Djokovic in the final in Australia will not leave Murray going into 2012 with any great
confidence.
The feeling is that Murray is going to have
to work extra hard in 2012 just to be reaching the semi-finals of the big
events and if he wants to go on and win one of them, he’ll really need to raise
his game to a far higher standard. Djokovic, Nadal and even Federer are not
going to be going away in 2012 and it’s likely that at least two of them will
need to be defeated if the Scot is going
to have success.
Murray has gone on record himself, saying
that he is not playing to the same standard of the players above him in the
rankings, yet whilst they have all obviously reached their peaks, he feels his
is yet to come. For me, that’s debateable. He could be right and we may yet to
see his peak, but if it doesn’t come soon, there’ll be younger players starting
to move up through the rankings and the task is only going to get harder for
2012.
As with Federer, I see the Australian Open
and Wimbledon as the big two events for Murray
in 2012, but on current form, I still don’t see him bringing home any of the
big titles next year.
2012 Andy Murray Tennis Bets
Grand Slam Wins – (Ladbrokes)
0 – 3/10
1 – 12/5
2 – 14/1
3 – 66/1
4 – 250/1
Year of Murray First Slam (William Hill)
Not win a Slam by end of 2015 – 11/10
2012 – 7/4
2013 – 5/1
2014 – 8/1
2015 – 25/1