2009 Australian Open Match Betting Tips for Friday's Action

Things are definitely heating up down in Oz as the men's Australian Open draw begins to sift away the competition down to the top 32. In action on Friday are top seeds Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Roddick. If you're looking at the wagering action online, you'll do best to check out 888sports as they've got the top odds and the most markets including outright betting on the tournament winner as well as multiples markets in each match. In Grand Slam tennis, calling the correct score at the end of the match is usually always your most profitable way to back a favourite and you'll find a perfect example of that wagering strategy on offer in the day's juiciest encounter- former world #1 Roger Federer facing off against Frenchman Marat Safin. Federer is fresh off his straight sets victory over a guy I haven't heard of before (Evgeny Korolev) and I expect Safin to be a tougher encounter for Federer. Although Federer will definitely win, I don't expect a straight sets victory here and I'm backing him to win this one with a final score of 3-1. You're looking at 5/2 odds for that to happen which is significantly more lucrative than the outright wagering which has Federer paying off at 1/14. If you wagered 1000 dollars on that one, you'd profit a miniscule $71. You can back Safin at 13/2 if you're feeling saucy.Novak Djokovic is favoured by an even bigger margin landing at 1/33 for a victory over Amer Delic. Who are these people? Djoko in straight sets pays ¼ which is good value in my book. Andy Roddick is set to face off against Fabrice Santoro on Friday and he is listed as a heavy 1/20 outright favourite. As usual, take a look at the Set Betting and you'll see where the value is. Although it's a bit slim, 2/5 on a Roddick straight sets victory looks enticing enough and a 3-1 margin pays 5/2.