Following Andy Murray's exit from the Australian Open, the outright market is now wide open.
Andy Murray's shock defeat to Mischa Zverev has seen punters swarm to the outright market in search of some value for who can win the Australian Open.
With Novak Djokovic also no longer playing in Melbourne, Roger Federer has emerged as the tournament favourite, at 10/3 best price, following his win over Kei Nishikori.
Federer's win over world number five Nishikori seems to have convinced punters that the four-time Australian Open champion is more than capable of claiming his 18th major in Melbourne.
Prior to the epic five-set encounter between Federer and Nishikori, Stanislas Wawrinka and Milos Raonic were consider the men to beat and are now second favourites behind Federer at around 4/1.
For shrewd punters who fancied Federer to make an impressive start to his first tournament on his return from injury, they could have got 25/1 with Betfair before things got under way in Melbourne.
It was not only Federer's return from a six-month lay off that made him a 25/1 shot for the title. His route to the final was expected to be a tough one with Tomas Berdych and Nishikori standing in his way before a potential quarter-final showdown with Murray. But the Scot's exit means Federer will now play Zverev for a play in the semi-final.
Rafael Nadal, who won back in 2009, is also on the comeback trail from injury and is 11/2 to win this year with Grigor Dimitrov considered an 8/1 chance.
With this year's tournament now so open, you cannot entirely rule out the possibility of an outsider winning it. Fans favourite Jo Wilfried-Tsonga leads the field for the outside shots and has come in to 18/1 with most bookies. They consider Zverev's triumph over Murray a one-off and have him priced at 50/1 with Betfred and Betfair to be a shock winner.
