Our Clients:

Field Level Media - Professional sports content solutions | FLM

Jan 29, 2020 3:09 pm

Djokovic, Thiem favored to meet in Aussie Open final

Novak Djokovic is heavily favored to take home his eighth Australian Open title on Sunday, with rising Austrian star Dominic Thiem the odds-on favorite to meet him in the men’s final.

FanDuel is offering Djokovic at -280 to win the event, with Thiem at +480 followed by Alexander Zverev (+950) and Roger Federer (+1200).

Djokovic will play a highly-anticipated semifinal against Federer, who has played 14 sets over his past three matches. That included overcoming a groin injury to rally from a 2-1 deficit and seven set points against him in the fourth set to beat Tennys Sandgren in the quarterfinals.

The 38-year-old Federer is +570 to beat Djokovic (-850) at FanDuel, with DraftKings offering Federer at +510 and Djokovic at -715.

Roger Federer
REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach

It will be the fifth meeting between the two at the Australian Open and their 50th meeting overall in ATP Tour matches. Djokovic has won all three of their previous semifinal encounters in Melbourne (2008, 2011, 2016), with Federer winning the first Australian Open meeting in the fourth round in 2007. Djokovic leads the rivalry 19-18 in hard-court matches and 26-23 overall.

“I know that whenever we get a chance to play each other, we understand it takes a big effort and it’s required from us to come up with the best game in order to win against each other,” Djokovic said after beating Milos Raonic in straight sets Wednesday.

“At Wimbledon last year, he had two match points, he was one shot away from winning that match. It’s not like I’ve been dominating the matchups. I’ve had success against him, in Grand Slams in particular.

“But Roger is Roger. You know that he’s always going to play on such a high level, regardless of the surface. He loves to play these kind of matches, big rivalries, semifinals, finals of Grand Slams.”

Thiem favored to keep rolling into final

Meanwhile, Thiem is heavily favorite to beat Zverev after taking out top-ranked Rafael Nadal in the semifinals. Thiem is a two-time French Open finalists, but this is the furthest he has advanced in a hard-court grand slam event.

Regardless, the 26-year-old Thiem is -194 at FanDuel, -195 at DraftKings and -192 at PointsBet to reach the final.

Zverev, 22, will be playing in his first grand slam semifinal on any surface after rallying from a set down to dominate Stan Wawrinka in Wednesday’s quarterfinal. He is +162 by FanDuel, +160 by DraftKings and +155 by PointsBet.

Barty favored to take women’s title

On the women’s side, top-ranked Ashleigh Barty remains the heavy favorite to take the title in her home country. She’s +125 at FanDuel, followed by Simona Halep (+200), Garbine Muguruza (+440) and Sofia Kenin (+700), the lone remaining player in the women’s draw without a major title on her resume.

“Of course, I’m really happy,” Kenin told reporters after beating unseeded Ons Jabeur in her first grand slam quarterfinal. “I’ve worked really hard to get to where I am. I’ve done a really hard preseason. I knew that it’s going to help me and it’s going to pay off. Thank God it’s paying off here.”

–Field Level Media (@FieldLevelMedia)

You may also like

Apr 27, 2022 8:57 am

Giants go for 2-game sweep of crosstown rival A’s

The San Francisco Giants will look to further close the gap in their all-time rivalry with the visiting Oakland Athletics when they seek a second straight win Wednesday night in…

Apr 27, 2022 8:42 am

Guardians, slumping Franmil Reyes take on Shohei Ohtani’s Angels

The Cleveland Guardians and Los Angeles Angels will play the third game of their four-game series Wednesday night in Anaheim, Calif., as the Guardians try to rediscover their offense. Cleveland’s…

Apr 27, 2022 8:35 am

Playoff-bound Kings seek to keep Kraken reeling

The Los Angeles Kings are playoff-bound for the first time since the 2017-18 season. The Kings (43-27-10, 96 points) punched their postseason ticket Tuesday night when Dallas defeated Vegas in…

More Archive News

Apr 27, 2022 8:57 am

Giants go for 2-game sweep of crosstown rival A’s

The San Francisco Giants will look to further close the gap in their all-time rivalry with the visiting Oakland Athletics when they seek a second straight win Wednesday night in…

Apr 27, 2022 8:42 am

Guardians, slumping Franmil Reyes take on Shohei Ohtani’s Angels

Apr 27, 2022 8:35 am

Playoff-bound Kings seek to keep Kraken reeling

Apr 27, 2022 8:17 am

Six-man rotation kicks in as Astros, Cristian Javier face Rangers

Apr 27, 2022 8:08 am

Jason Robertson, Stars can lock up playoff berth vs. Coyotes

Read all
fb-post
advertisment
title-icon

Upcoming events

See all odds
Array