Andy Murray will face Roger Federer in the Australian Open seminfinals and while that matchup isn’t a surprise they took drastically differently routes to get there. Federer had a tough five set, 3 and a half hour brawl with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga winning 7-6 (4), 4-6, 7-6 (4), 3-6, 6-3. Murray had a very easy time of things in his quarterfinal matchup, defeating Jeremy Chardy 6-4, 6-1, 6-2. In the other men’s semifinal Novak Djokovic will face David Ferrer.
Federer said he enjoyed the challenge presented by Tsonga:
“I thought he played very aggressive. I love those four-set or five-set thrillers and I was part of one tonight.”
Tsonga was somewhat clueless as to why he’s had difficulty beating top level players:
“To be honest, I have no idea. You know, if you have some advice for me, I will take it because I don’t know. I don’t know what is the difference.”
He did say that he’s benefited from his new coach, Roger Rasheed:
“He’s giving me an extra motivation. It’s great because he’s always positive. He wants maybe more than me to win. He’s incredible.”
Federer is a four time Australian Open champion and a 17 time Grand Slam winner. Despite this impressive resume Federer is only the third favorite betting choice to win the entire tournament. Novak Djokovic is the -120 favorite to win the Australian Open followed by Andy Murray at +250. David Ferrer is the longshot among the four remaining men at +2500.
In the semifinal rounds, Djokovic is a whopping -1200 favorite over David Ferrer. Takeback on Ferrer is +700. The Murray vs. Federer matchup is expected to be much closer. Murray is a -175 favorite while Federer is a +138 underdog. On the women’s side Victoria Azerenka is a +110 favorite to defend her Australian Open title with Maria Sharapova not far behind at +120. Chinese phenom Ni Li is the third betting choice at +1000 with American teenager Sloane Stephens–fresh off of her upset win over Serena Williams–is the longshot at +1400. The women’s semifinals will take place late Wednesday with the men’s finals taking place on Thursday and Friday. The Australian Open women’s final will take place on Saturday and the men’s final will take place on Sunday.
