World number one Caroline Wozniacki had to overcome a hostile Melbourne crowd on her way to a first-round victory against local favourite Anastasia Rodionova. The Dane, who is seeking to claim her maiden Grand Slam title, took no notice of the partisan crowd packed into the Rod Laver Arena, comprehensively easing herself into the second round with 6-2 6-1 victory.

The occasion clearly got to Rodionova, who went into the Australian Open with a world-ranking of just 103rd, and Wozniacki was more than able to take full control of the first set. The 29-year old could only chase shadows as her opponent produced a series of stunning baseline winners; seemingly dashing any belief Rodionova had of producing a shock result. People who have bet on Australian Open 2012 will not have been too surprised.

The second set was a similar story for the Russian-born Rodionova, with Wozniacki racing ahead to a 5-0 lead before the deflated Aussie managed to hold onto her serve to win her first game of the set – which at least earned her a cheer from her many fans inside the main arena.

The Dane powered her way over the finish line soon after, however, showing no signs of any ill-effects from the wrist injury she had been struggling with going into this year’s opening Grand Slam. Those looking at the tennis betting should remember this.

“I was a little bit nervous about my wrist, I was so happy I could play full out today,” she said.

Despite climbing to the top of the world rankings, Wozniacki has so far failed to add that all important major title to her C.V. The talented youngster will be well aware that without a Grand Slam title to her name, she won’t be truly viewed as being the world’s top players. This could well be her tournament, however, and on this sort of form, Wozniacki will certainly be in with a great chance of stepping onto the next level in her career.

Andy Murray has just enjoyed his best year in tennis. He reached three slam semi finals and one final, won all five of his non-major tour finals and produced perhaps the best tennis of his career in beating Rafael Nadal in Tokyo.

However, it could be said that the Scot is as far from a slam victory as ever. He ended the year ranked fourth for the fourth year running and in losing to Nadal in all three slam semi finals showed his limitations against the very best more than he did his progress from previous years. A series of early season shock defeats would be hard to imagine befalling his main rivals. People who Bet on Australian Open Tennis should remember this.

A strong case can be made for him in Melbourne – two consecutive Australian Open final appearances, a strong finish to the season that featured three wins on the Asian leg of the tour – but unfortunately for the Scot stronger ones can, as ever, be made for three men ahead of him in the rankings.

Murray has lost nine of his 11 slam matches against the rest of the big four (seven defeats coming against Nadal) and he continues to find it hard enough to win one match in a major against these players; winning two in quick succession would be uncharted territory. Those looking at the Top sites for Tennis Betting need to remember this.

This is not to say this feat is unachievable. Murray has been inspired by the rapid improvement of his peer Djokovic, who has benefited from combining greater consistency, improved physical fitness and a more aggressive approach to great effect.

Murray has the potential to gain the extra few percent needed to win a major and 2012 could be his year. Melbourne has been the venue that Murray has come closest to winning a major at and that could be the case again.

Unibet assess the latest news from the world of tennis:

Rafael Nadal has made his ambition for 2012 a simple one as he looks to bounce back from a poor end to the current season. The Spaniard will do all he can now that the season has come to an end to work his way to a “perfect” condition by the time the tennis action gets underway in Australia.

The player’s comments came after he was forced to defend himself from his critics after revealing that his passion and desire to succeed in the game had dropped a little towards the end of the year. Those comments came after he was beaten by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the closing stages of the ATP World Tour Finals, eventually won by Roger Federer. That defeat was, rather worryingly, Nadal’s fourth in just 10 matches, and the player was quick to point out that his energy levels have been in rapid decline in recent weeks.

Nadal experienced an optimistic start to the calendar year, the Spanish player topping the rankings, but for much of the season found himself playing second fiddle to the remarkable Novak Djokovic, who became world number one after his success at Wimbledon. Djokovic is now one of the favourites in the tennis odds with the likes of Unibet Holland Casino to prove dominant next year.

The Spaniard still has the Davis Cup final against Argentina next week to prepare for, but will take a proper break from competitive action after that to ensure his energy levels and mental commitment are up to scratch before heading over to Australia for what could turn out to be a very interesting Grand Slam event indeed.

Unibet Netherlands take a look at Roger Federer’s latest success:

Roger Federer has expressed joy and pure relief after upsetting the tennis odds by winning the ATP World Tour Finals at the O2 in London. The tennis legend, who won all of his ties at the London event, beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to end his year on a high after disappointment at the Grand Slams and several other crucial tournaments through the season.

The title was Federer’s sixth season-ending crown and the 16-time Grand Slam champion was quick to put the victory down as “one of his greatest accomplishments” since his illustrious career began.

Although this year will go down as a disappointing one for a man who used to sweep away all before him on the tennis circuit, his recent run of hot form will provide him with a massive confidence boost ahead of the Australian Open early in 2012. The world number three, who has just overtaken Andy Murray in the rankings, has not been beaten since he crashed out of the US Open in September, winning 17 matches along the way and lifting titles in Basel and Paris prior to his London success.

With Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal promising even more improvements between the pair of them next season, and with Andy Murray desperate to bounce back from his injury-hit appearance in London, 2012 could yet turn out to be a blockbuster year in the world of men’s tennis. One piece of advice: keep an eye on the bookmaker odds next season!

Andy Murray has confirmed that he change his schedule ahead of the Australian Open, by taking part in the Brisbane International tournament.

The world number three is often seen as one of the favourites for the first Grand Slam of the year, mainly due to his impressive recent record in Melbourne.

Murray is a two-time finalist at the Australian Open, in 2010 and 2011, and admits he loves the tournament which has, to date, provided him with the best chance to break his Grand Slam duck. People looking at the Australian Open Tennis betting should remember this.

The Scot normally prepares for the first of the big-four events by playing in the Hopman Cup – a tournament he finished runner-up in, alongside Laura Robson, in 2010.

But instead of heading to Perth in 2012, Murray will now be flying to Queensland to take his place in the Brisbane event – which was won by Robin Soderling in 2011.
The British number one revealed: “I love coming to Australia, but I’ve never had the opportunity to visit Queensland before.

“I’ve heard only good things about the Brisbane International tournament, so I am looking forward to competing in January. With a quality field it is the perfect way to begin my Australian campaign.”

A strong line-up is expected for the men’s singles, while several high-profile names have already been confirmed for the tournament, which takes place between January 1-8. Anyone following the Tennis Betting prices should keep an eye on things.

US Open champion and home favourite Samantha Stosur will be joined in the WTA event by Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova and Australian Open winner Kim Clijsters.

Andy Murray has been forced to withdraw from the ATP World Tour Finals due to a groin problem and the world number three will now be replaced by Janko Tipsarevic.

The British number one picked up the injury in training last week and was unable to do much practice in the lead up to the end-of-season finale at the O2 Arena.

Murray was seen grimacing during the first set of his match with David Ferrer on Monday and needed treatment between sets, before going down in straight sets to the Spaniard, 6-4 7-5.

The Scot said he would try to practice before making a decision on his participation in the next group match, but wasn’t able to due to the severity of the problem. Anyone looking ahead to the Australian Open 2012 betting will be wondering if he will recover.

Murray then held a press conference on Tuesday afternoon and confirmed that he has been told to take a week to 10 days off by medical experts.

The 24-year-old said: “You hope things are going to get better, but in reality that wasn’t ever going to happen.

“I woke up this morning still sore and there was no real positive of coming out and playing tomorrow.”

World number eight Tipsarevic will now take Murray’s place in Group A, to top what has been a season to remember for the Serbian. Those looking at the tennis betting odds should remember this.

Tipsarevic collected his first ATP title in October in Malaysia, before following that up with another success at the Moscow indoor event. The 27-year-old has also reached three other finals in the last 12 months.

Rafael Nadal has spoken about his anger at comments made by former player Yannick Noah saying that Spanish athletes use doping.

The Frenchman wrote in French paper Le Monde that his compatriots no longer have a chance of beating their Spanish compatriots as they don’t have the ‘magic potion’. He also suggested that France should relax its rules on doping saying it was the only way he believed the country’s representatives could compete on an even footing with their rivals.

Noah is a well respected pundit with in his homeland and has often found himself at the centre of publicity storms due to his outspoken nature.

Noah questioned why Spanish sportsmen were so well built and asked: “How can a country (Spain) dominate sport from one day to the next?” Had they discovered avant-garde training techniques and methods that no one else imagined?”

Spain are currently riding a wave of sporting success with their football team being the current world champions and Nadal himself being one of three Spaniards to be ranked in the top ten of the ATP’s world rankings. Anyone following the betting will know how ridiculous Noah’s comments are.

The former world number one is understandably angry at the 1983French Open champion’s comments and is the latest Spaniard to come out criticising the Frenchman after Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola had his say at the weekend.

French Minister for Sport David Douillet has also questions Noah’s comments and Nadal believes the 51-year-old should be banned from writing following his latest outburst, commenting that he felt the article reflected badly on France as a whole. Fans of mobile sports betting may well share his anger.

“This guy deserve not (to) write anymore in the newspaper,” Nadal said. “What he said is completely stupid.”

“The image of the country when one guy, important guy like him, say that, is terrible.”

The ATP newcomer of the year for 2011 is yet to be named, but the youngsters to watch out for at the Australian Open have already made themselves known. Bernard Tomic and Milos Raonic produced breakthrough performances at last year’s event and there are plenty of other future stars to keep an eye on.

Tobias Kamke won the newcomer award last year thanks to his leap from 254 in the rankings to 66th, but it is the winner from 2008 who is in more impressive form. Kei Nishikori is the exulted company of Roger Federer, Andy Murray and Juan Martin del Potro as the only players to beat Novak Djokovic in the 2011 season and the fact the world number one was hampered by injury in that match only slightly downgrades the Japanese starlet’s achievement. Anyone looking ahead to the Australian Open 2012 betting should remember this.

Nishikori has not reached 25 in the rankings by accident and whilst he has been on the scene for some time, reaching the last 16 of the US Open in 2008, having just turned 22 when the Australian Open marks him out as the youngest threat to the big suns from the upper echelons of the rankings.

Martin Klizan is the same age as Nishikori and has shown similar promise as a teenager, winning the 2006 junior French Open. He recently climbed to 86th in the senior rankings and is ranked third on the Challenger circuit this season. The young Slovakian is capable of claiming a notable scalp if he makes it through to Melbourne. Those following the tennis betting odds should bear this in mind.

Ryan Harrison has become a feature in the top 100 of the rankings and has produced some of his best tennis at slams, having been a match point away from the third round of the US Open last year when aged 18.