Nadal Withdrawal Blows Australian Open Semi-Finals Wide Open

American football fans might be encouraging Rafael Nadal to pay a visit to Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler after the Spanish sensation gave a masterclass in playing through injury despite a loss to David Ferrer. Nadal’s dream of taking four grand slams in a row was dashed and it has to be admitted that the sporting punditry were spared months of jabber and debate over whether the four majors counts as much as four majors in a calendar year.

Roger Federer is now considered the strong favourite and his likely opponent is favoured to be Scotland’s Andy Murray.

Punters looking to back the Swiss master can lock in a price just a shade above even money with most bookmakers pricing Federer around 6/5. Andy Murray is listed at 7/4 for the tournament victory and he’ll be going into his fixture against Ferrer as a heavy favourite.

The prospect of Murray finally winning that elusive first grand slam is especially close right now and it’s not like Roger Federer is in the form of his life at the moment. The Scotsman might think things are playing in his favour and he is definitely within striking distance.

Novak Djokovic remains the dark horse at 4/1 while David Ferrer appears to have his work cut out for him at 12/1. The Federer vs Djokovic semi-final looks especially appealing and Federer goes in as a slim favourite for the win.