Disgraced golfer Tiger Woods finds himself in a peculiar spot this weekend going in to the Players Championship. After a dismal display at Quail Hollow where he uncharacteristically missed the cut the bookies have given him his longest tournament odds in almost 3 years with Sportsbet willing to pay $8.00 if he can take out the title. This amazing payout comes in spite of Tigers unprecedented run of 258 weeks as the games number one ranked player and could be a great time for punters to cash in. Tiger has undoubtedly been under a lot of pressure of late with experts saying that it is showing through in his swing. But you can never ever right off the man that is quite simply the greatest golfer of all time and with Sportsbet offering you up to $200 in free bets on top of these great odds it is an opportunity that you simply can not miss.
Tigers amazing odds caused me have a little look around the sporting world to see if there was any other good outside bets going around and found a couple that could tickle you taste buds. The French Open Tennis tournament is nearly upon us and we find the usual suspects Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer pitted in as hot favourites paying $1.40 and $4.50 respectively. Novak Djokovic is third favourite at $13, but what about Aussie open finalist Andy Murray? You can find him further down the list with Sportsbet offering a whopping $51 for him to take out his first major. While I seriously don’t think that he will win a small bet on him making the final could be well worth it.
Another good looking bet is $6.50 for Australian F1 driver Mark Webber to win the Spanish GP. His Red Bull car has looked the business this year and with a little bit of luck he could very well be sitting a top of the podium. But watch out Lewis “Doughnut King” Hamilton.
The French Open will head in to its second week without defending champion Rafael Nadal after he was dumped out of the competition by 23rd seed Robin Soderling. The three sets to one defeat was the world number ones first ever loss at Roland Garros and easily one of the biggest upsets in tennis history. Nadal’s shock exit also leaves the tournament wide open with a number of contenders looking to take his French Open crown that he has owned for the past four years. Here at sportsbetblog.com.au we will be looking at the most likely winners for you to place your free bet on from Sportingbet
Roger Federer $2.10
Roger Federer is now the hot favourite to win his 14th Grand Slam title and understandably so. The Swiss master has looked good so far and with his arch nemesis eliminated as well as dangerous Serb Novak Djokovic it would take a brave man to bet against him.
Andy Murray $4.50
Ther is no doubt that Roger Federer’s air of invincibility has gone in recent years thanks mainlyRafael Nadal’s dominance of him, proving that Federer is human and therefore beatable. Andy Murray is one of those players that has seized on this confidence and beaten Federer on regualr occasions. Murray is one player with the skills that can break the strangle hold that the top two of Federer and Nadal seem to have on the game. His only down fall so far in his career has been a lack of stamina to play top tennis for two full weeks in a Grand Slam, but he has looked fantastic so far disposing of Mario Cilic, Janko Tipsarevic, Potito Starace and Juan Ignacio Chela in fine style. Get your free bet on the tough Brit, this is his year.
Andy Roddick $67.00
American number 6 seed Andy Roddick has travelled well in the first week. But then again he always does, it is the second week of Grand Slams when he faces up against much tougher opponents that he seems to fall flat on his face. He is definately a good bet to get through is fourth round tie against unpredictable Frenchmen Gael Monflis at $2.22, but I am afraid that winning the tournament is probably beyond him.
The Ladies
Maria Sharapova $26.00
Men all over the world are thanking the tennis gods because Maria Sharapova is back on the court and looking like she could cause an upset. She was un seeded for this years Frech Open after a lengthy spell out of the game through injury, and has been taken to three sets in each of her ties so far because of a tough draw. It would be a dream come back for her, but I would save your free bet from betfair for Dinara Safina at $2.26 you can still make a nice little profit.
Samantha Stosur $85.00
Seeded 30th Aussie Samantha Stosur upset 4th seed Elena Dementieva in the third round, and she did it pretty comfortably winning 6-3 4-6 6-1. We would all love a fellow Aussie to win , and at $85.00 Stosur could just be worth a couple of dollars.
The second tennis grand slam of the of the year is only a few short weeks away with just one question on everybody’s lips, can anyone stop Rafael Nadal? The world number one has totally dominated the clay courts of Roland Garros over the last few years winning the last four consecutive French opens to equal the amazing record set by super cool Swede Bjorn Borg. There is no doubt that the clay court is where the powerful Spaniard is most at home, he has won all 22 of his matches in Paris and 18 of his 23 career titles have been on clay. This year looks like being more of the same from the 23 year old. He has started the season in blistering fashion winning the Australian Open after an epic five set final against Roger Federer , and smashing his way to victories in the Monte Carlo and Rome masters. With this in mind it is no wonder Nadal is the hot favourite to take his fifth straight French Open title at $1.30 and $3.50 not to lose a set. Can anyone really beat the guy?
Roger Federer $9.00
It was only a couple of years ago that Federer himself looked to be unbeatable, stepping around shots to unleash a wicked forehand with unbelievable accuracy. This is still the case against the majority of his opponents, but when he steps on court against Rafael Nadal Federer becomes indecisive and overly cautious. Nadal destroyed Federer in straight sets at last year’s French Open final and after beating the Swiss master on his favourite grass surface at Wimbledon last year there is no doubt that young Rafael has the mental edge.
Novak Djokovic $9.00
Novak Djokovic really hit the world stage when he won his first Grand Slam, the 2008 Australian Open. He looked classy as he cruised to victory with an array of dangerous shots, but since then he has only shown flashes of his true potential. His year so far has been somewhat disappointing after failing to defend his Australian Open title and losing in three Masters Finals two of them on clay against Rafael Nadal. He did win in Dubai earlier in the year, but he will really have to up his game if he is to take out his second career Grand Slam title.
Andy Murray $13.00
Andy Murray started the year off in fantastic form winning the Capitala World Tennis Championship and the Qatar Open beating both Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal along the way. He went in to the Australian Open as the favourite but failed to show any of his early season form and blamed fatigue for his exit against Fernando Verdasco. Murray has spent the year working hard on his fitness with some success; he beat Rafael Nadal in Rotterdam in early February and Novak Djokovic at the Miami Masters. There is no doubt that Murray has the skills to beat anyone on his day making him a great outside bet, but consistency over the two weeks of a Grand Slam tournament is still going to be a major problem.
Disgraced golfer Tiger Woods finds himself in a peculiar spot this weekend going in to the Players Championship. After a dismal display at Quail Hollow where he uncharacteristically missed the cut the bookies have given him his longest tournament odds in almost 3 years with Sportsbet willing to pay $8.00 if he can take out the title. This amazing payout comes in spite of Tigers unprecedented run of 258 weeks as the games number one ranked player and could be a great time for punters to cash in. Tiger has undoubtedly been under a lot of pressure of late with experts saying that it is showing through in his swing. But you can never ever right off the man that is quite simply the greatest golfer of all time and with Sportsbet offering you up to $200 in free bets on top of these great odds it is an opportunity that you simply can not miss.