The Australian Open draw has been made with the tournament set to begin on Monday.
The Australian Open draw has not been the kindest to Andy Murray as he will have to overcome strong opposition, including old foe Federer, in order to take victory in the first Grand Slam of the year.
First up he faces Illya Marchenko, which should be a routine victory for the Brit. His next opponent will most likely be Sam Querrey, the man who knocked Djokovic out of Wimbledon. You would expect Murray to progress.
Possible fourth-round opponents include the young talented Frenchman Lucas Pouille, a handful for anyone on his day, and the big serving 6’10 giant John Isner. However, neither have made it past the fourth round stage at the Australian Open in their careers.
The quarter finals are where the world number one is set to face the returning Roger Federer. The Swiss has been out with a knee injury and has not played since his semi-final defeat at Wimbledon to Milos Raonic, which is why his odds look extremely long at 28/1 to win the tournament. Roger holds a superior head-to-head record with 14 wins on tour to Andy’s 11 and has won the last five meetings between the pair. Federer also has a 5-1 lead in Grand Slam matches, so if history is anything to go by, the world number one will be up against it.
The other opponent he could face in the last eight is 33/1 shot Kei Nishikori. The world number five sent Andy tumbling out of last year’s US Open in a thrilling five set encounter. However, Murray went some way to set the record straight, winning their last meeting at the ATP World Tour Finals in another close match that went to the wire.
If Murray manages to negotiate his way to the semis, he will likely face third favourite Stan Wawrinka. 'Stanimal', as he is know by his fans, won the US Open most recently and is 14/1 to take back-to-back slams. No doubt 7/4 favourite and six-time Australian Open Champion, Novak Djokovic, will be awaiting the victor in the final.
Other notables include Rafael Nadal (16/1), Milos Raonic (20/1), Australian Nick Kyrgios (50/1), Marin Cilic (80/1) and Dominic Thiem (100/1) who will all be hoping to upset the odds in Melbourne over the next fortnight.
The #AustralianOpen draw was announced today, who are you backing to win it?
— Oddschecker (@Oddschecker) January 13, 2017
