Who Will Win the Woman's Australian Open Tennis 2010?

Any Tennis betting or sports betting enthusiast should be paying close attention to the Australian Open. The woman’s grand slam tennis matches are played best out of three sets rather than best of five like the men so following the form of the woman in circuit events can be a very accurate way of assessing form.

US Open winner Kim Clijsters and the returning Justine Henin have added some much needed quality back into Woman’s tennis. Since Henin retired none of the other woman like Jankovic or Ivanovic have risen to take the game by the scruff of the neck and dominate like many expected. Because of this experienced champions like Venus and Serena Williams remain at the top of the game and the players to beat in every grand slam. Due to the uncertainty surrounding the consistency of Clijsters and Henin working out who to bet on is very interesting indeed.

Serena Williams is the favourite at odds of 3.00 to win the Australian Open. She is making her first grand slam appearance since her confrontation with a line judge in the US Open in the semi-final against Clijsters when she faced a match point and was penalised a point for the torrent of abuse she gave the official. She was heavily reprimanded and fined after the tournament has something to prove in these championships.

Justine Henin managed to beat Elena Dementieva 7-5, 7-6 to reach the third round and this is a clear indication she may be a contender. Her odds to win are 5.00 and this may decrease due to her big win over Elena. Kim Clijsters is also through the third round and her odds to win are 4.00. It is great to have these players back on tour and with both players being back amongst the favourites straight away is a testament to their dedication and talent. I would urge any tennis betting fan thinking of backing against them because of rustiness or lack of match practise to think again.

Venus Williams has odds of 8.00. She has an excellent record in Grand Slams and it seems only the grand slam tournaments really interest the Williams sisters anymore in competitive tennis. She is dangerous and could easily win the tournament. I think Venus would beat Henin at this point in her comeback. I think only Clijsters and Serena could beat Venus at top form. Any tennis bet on Venus Williams to win the Australian Open is certainly not money wasted.

Any of the top four women in the betting could win the tournament. If I was only allowed to choose one I may favour betting on Serena Williams as she is so strong and when on top form even dominates her sister Venus. I could easily find reasons to back any of the other players; it is very close which is what makes woman’s tennis so intriguing at the moment.

The two outsiders for the title could be Svetlana Kusnetsova and Dinara Safina. Perhaps Safina will rue the missed opportunities for a grand slam title now that Clijsters and Henin are back in contention. She has odds of 16.00 to win the Australian Open and perhaps this would be the most surprising win should she get it. You feel if she won one she could win more but with the returning players back on tour I expect her to have to wait one, possibly two years for her maiden grand slam. Kusnetsova is a talented and strong player but lost in the quarter finals last year and rarely goes beyond that point in grand slams in recent years. She was unlucky to lose against Serena last year and may be a surprise contender if she can negotiate the early rounds. Always a fierce competitor and that makes her dangerous.

The ladies tournament is definitely one to watch. Get your bets on and enjoy the matches. If all the top names get to the last eight we are in for a tennis betting treat with some mouth watering matches in prospect.

By Malcolm Clarke