A history of big prices at the Australian Open...

Thursday 21st January 2021

In your Ones to Watch EXTRA email today:

• Outsider odds at the Australian Open…
• 100/1, 200/1, 500/1…
• Take my 2021 Challenge – starts next month…

The Australian Open doesn’t start for a couple of weeks yet. But it’s been getting plenty of headlines and column inches.

The players have already arrived Down Under. And depending what plane they flew in on, under Australia’s coronavirus restrictions, they’re in different levels of hotel-based quarantine.

There’s a lot of talk. A lot of social media videos. A bit of controversy. I’m just looking forward to the actual tennis to start…

Because the first Grand Slam on the calendar is often a great hunting ground for our ‘Ones to Watch’ approach. With several newcomers and outsiders winning big in Melbourne in recent years…

A history of big prices at the Australian Open…

This tournament has been a rich source of big odds in recent times.

The Melbourne Park venue has borne witness to plenty of surprises, with ‘long shots’ & underdogs going deep to the semi finals and finals – at some massive prices.

This list should whet your appetite…

Australian Open Finals:

(Pre-tournament Outright Winner odds in brackets)

• 2014 – Dominika Cibulkova – Women’s Runner-Up (200/1)

• 2014 – Stan Wawrinka – Men’s Winner (66/1)

• 2016 – Angelique Kerber – Women’s Winner (50/1)

• 2017 – Venus Williams – Women’s Runner-Up (100/1)

• 2018 – Marin Cilic – Men’s Runner-Up (33/1)

• 2020 – Sofia Kenin – Women’s Winner (50/1)

• 2020 – Garbine Muguruza – Women’s Runner-Up (40/1)

• 2020 – Dominic Thiem – Men’s Runner-Up (22/1)

Also, reaching the Semi Finals in the last three years alone:

• 2018 – Hyeon Chung – Men’s Semi Finals (300/1)

• 2018 – Kyle Edmund – Men’s Semi Finals (100/1)

• 2019 – Stefanos Tsitsipas – Men’s Semi Finals (50/1)

• 2019 – Lucas Pouille – Men’s Semi Finals (200/1)

• 2019 – Danielle Collins – Women’s Semi Finals (500/1)

As those winners, runners-up and semi-finalists show – players reaching the business end of the tournament at big odds are a frequent occurrence at the Australian Open…

Going after outsiders & underdogs and young & improving players at attractive Each Way prices is what my Ones to Watch service is all about.

For example, from those names above, we had Kenin in last season’s Ones to Watch in 2020 report.

Back in 2018, we had Cilic at 33/1. And Tsitsipas had appeared as one of 10 players in our Ones to Watch in 2019 report, less than a month before that breakthrough semi-final run in Melbourne.

Catch up on my new player list for the 2021 season here.

Take my 2021 Challenge – starts next month…

I’ll be hunting at those kinds of odds again. Not just during the Australian Open fortnight, and the three other Grand Slams. But at all ATP & WTA Tour events on the 2021 calendar, too.

The Aussie Open starts on 8th February. Before that, there are ATP & WTA tournaments in Melbourne, starting from 31st January.

Coming soon – lookout for an invitation, with your opportunity to join me and get all my picks and daily advice.

That invite will also contain details of something I’ve got up my sleeve again for this year...

I’m calling it my 2021 Challenge. There will be some BIG odds involved. It’s exciting stuff.

Keep an eye on your emails at the end of this month.

Enjoy the tennis…

Best wishes,

Tom Wilson

Ones to Watch