Serena Williams’ incredible Grand Slam run took the tennis world by storm over the past couple of years but after capturing the “Serena Slam” for the second time in her career she fell just short of her first-career Calendar Grand Slam when she finally faltered at the US Open in 2016. After months of preparation, Williams is intent on stringing together another run of Grand Slam wins beginning at the Australian Open where she will be the unquestioned betting favorite to win the event. Here is a look at the four best bets to win the 2016 Australian Open.
Serena Williams
Serena has won two or more Grand Slam events in three of the last four years as well as at least one in every single year since 2012 and there is every reason to think she will be motivated to set the tone for 2016 in Melbourne. Williams absolutely dominated at last year’s Australian Open and she will be looking for a measure of redemption following her upset loss at last year’s US Open. No other tennis player has been as dominant as Williams over the past couple of years and considering she is still a step above the competition heading in to a new year there is every reason to think she can win the Australian Open in consecutive years for the second time in her career.
Maria Sharapova
Sharapova hasn’t been nearly as dominant as Serena over the past couple of years as her only Grand Slam win came at the French Open back in 2014 but she still has the talent to contend at the Australian Open and is one of the few female tennis players that can actually beat Serena on the big stage. Sharapova has slipped to No. 4 in the world rankings over the past year but that will only serve as added motivation for her entering this tournament so don’t be shocked when Sharapova contends for her second Australian Open title and her first since 2008.
Simona Halep
Halep is an intriguing bet for the 2016 Australian Open as a rising star that some tennis experts have pegged for a breakthrough season. The 24-year-old has never won a Grand Slam event but she has been consistent enough to climb to No. 2 in the world rankings and with a little luck this could be the tournament where she finally gets her big break and takes home a championship from a major tennis tournament.
Victoria Azarenka
No player on this list is as good of a bet as Williams but Azarenka is another intriguing play that should be ranked slightly ahead of Petra Kvitova and Garbine Muguruza among the best bets to win the Australian Open. Kvitova proved her ability when she won the 2014 Wimbledon tournament and while she has yet to break through at Melbourne this good be the year that she surprises the tennis world and contends for an Australian Open title as another of the three contenders with a legitimate chance to win lined up behind Williams at the very top of this list.
2016 Australian Open Odds
S Williams 9/1
M Sharapova 6/1
S Halep 8/1
V Azarenka 8/1
P Kvitova 12/1
G Muguruza 12/1
B Bencic 16/1
A Radwanska 25/1
M Keys 35/1
A Kerber 40/1
Ka Pliskova 50/1
V Williams 50/1
C Wozniacki 50/1
E Bouchard 50/1
D Cibulkova 66/1
T Bacsinszky 66/1
L Safarova 66/1
E Makarova 66/1
S Stephens 66/1
A Ivanovic 66/1
E Svitolina 80/1
S Lisicki 80/1
S Stosur 80/1
C Vandeweghe 100/1
A Petkovic 100/1
J Jankovic 100/1
C Garcia 100/1
K Mladenovic 100/1
C Suarez Navarro 100/1
S Kuznetsova 150/1
A Cornet 150/1
A Pavlyuchenkova 150/1
C Giorgi 150/1
R Vinci 150/1
H Watson 200/1
V Lepchenko 200/1
J Konta 200/1
A-K Schmiedlova 250/1
S Errani 250/1
S Peng 250/1
D Gavrilova 300/1
A Krunic 300/1
K Flipkens 400/1
Y Shvedova 500/1
M Gasparyan 500/1
J Goerges 500/1
A Tatishvili 500/1
A Van Uytvanck 500/1
S-W Hsieh 500/1
M Lucic-Baroni 500/1
N Hibino 500/1
A Tomljanovic 500/1
L Siegemund 500/1
B Mattek-Sands 500/1
D Kasatkina 500/1
L Dominguez Lino 500/1
M Linette 500/1
J Gajdosova 500/1
T Babos 500/1
C Witthoeft 500/1
V Duval 500/1
L Hradecka 500/1
D Kovinic 500/1
M Doi 500/1
V King 500/1
G Voskoboeva 500/1
A-L Friedsam 500/1
J Larsson 500/1
K Nara 500/1
L Arruabarrena 500/1
A Konjuh 500/1
B Strycova 500/1
I-C Begu 500/1
M Niculescu 500/1
X Han 500/1
I Falconi 500/1
P Cetkovska 500/1
A Mitu 500/1
S Crawford 500/1
E Rodina 500/1
A Beck 500/1
Y Wickmayer 500/1
L Tsurenko 500/1
M Puig 500/1
M Brengle 500/1
D Vekic 500/1
Z Diyas 500/1
Y Putintseva 500/1
J Ostapenko 500/1
A Kontaveit 500/1
K Siniakova 500/1
K Bondarenko 500/1
A Kleybanova 500/1
S Zheng 500/1
U Radwanska 500/1
T Pereira 500/1
A Dulgheru 500/1
D Hantuchova 500/1
T Maria 500/1
M Barthel 500/1
P Hercog 500/1
A Riske 500/1
K Knapp 500/1
L Davis 500/1
D Allertova 500/1
C Mchale 500/1
M Rybarikova 500/1
K Koukalova 500/1
O Govortsova 500/1
T Patterson 500/1
B Jovanovski 500/1
M Duque-Marino 500/1
T Pironkova 500/1
