Roger Federer Back In Favour With Bookmakers For Australian Open Title

Even though the whole of Britain is following the Australian Open eagerly hoping to see Andy Murray become the first British tennis player since Fred Perry to win a Grand Slam title, the bookmakers are feeling a bit disappointed as the much awaited "patriotic punt" on the 21 year old tennis sensation has not come through.Economic crisis has been blamed by many for this situation which has led the British public to back Murray with their hearts but not with their money. This has led to many UK Bookmakers pushing out the price on Andy Murray and thus making Roger Federer their favourite.This would surely make Roger Federer happy as he was reported to be surprised with the bookmakers for making Andy Murray their favourite over him and Rafael Nadal for the Australian Open title."We expected to be fighting off Murray supporters at the door after all the experts said he was red hot," said a Ladbrokes spokesman. "But the man in the street has not followed".Roger Federer is now as low as 2/1 with Totesport and is available at the best odds of 12/5 with 888Sport.The World number two cruised past Italian Andreas Seppi in the first round but is a bit wary of his second round opponent Evgeny Korolev of Russia. The twenty year old qualifier shocked former Australian Open finalist Carlos Moya in straight sets in the first round.Andy Murray got a easy walk in the first round with his Romanian opponent Andrei Pavel retiring with a back injury just 45 minutes in the match with the Scotsman leading 6-2,3-1.With this Murray should have erased the bad memories of last year when he lost in the first round to Jo-Wilfred Tsonga.Murray, who started as the pre tournament bookmakers favourite despite of being ranked world number four and have not won a grand slam ever is now second in the betting charts. He is available for as low as 5/2 with most bookmakers but is available for best price of 3/1 with Sportingbet and 31/10 at Betfair.World number one Rafael Nadal has seen his odds shortening after he started his Australian Open campaign with an impressive 6-0,6-2,6-2 win over Christophe Rochus of Belgium.Nadal gets a quote of as low as 7/2 now with most UK Bookmakers including Stan James, Bluse Square etc but can still be backed at 4/1 with Bet365, Totesport and Ladbrokes.World number three Novak DjoKovic started his campaign by seeing off a spirited challenge from Andrea Stoppini of Italy whom he defeated in three straight sets.This has led to opposing quotes from various bookmakers and he is as low as 5/1 with Totesport while Sportingbet are as high as 10/1. If you want to stake your money on the last year title holder, Sportingbet is the place to check out.David Nalbandan is seen as a dark horse here and is as low as 14/1 with Ladbrokes and William Hill but is trading at a nice 31/1 on Betfair.In sixth position of the latest betting charts lies last year's runner up Jo-Wilfried Tsonga who is as high as 25/1 with Totesport, Blue Square and 888Sport.The betting is expected to be focused mostly around the top 4 only this year and bookmakers Paddy Power and Skybet are even taking bets on Big 4 vs the field.You can bet on the Big 4 ( Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Novak DjoKovic and Andy Murray) combined at 1/7 with both Paddy Power and Skybet.For those who are predicting an upset winner this year at the 2009 Australian Open can head to Skybet which is offering 9/2 for the entire field of the remaining players against the Big 4.