Djoker’s shock Australian Open dismissal blows market wide open

IT’S hard to believe it, but World Number 2 Novak Djokovic packed his bags last night and won’t be seen at Melbourne Park again until at least next year.

It’s mind boggling to think that the joint Open favourite – who hasn’t been dismissed from a grand slam this early since Wimbledon in 2008 – won’t be involved in the second week of the tournament.

Djokovic was the victim of a remarkable performance from World Number 117 Denis Istomin.

The stats keep coming.

Before yesterday, Djokovic’s record against players outside the top 100 was 33-0. Yep, that’s right, he’d never been beaten.

Now, he leaves Melbourne with his tail between his legs, leaving Andy Murray as the odds on favourite at $1.83 with Sportsbet.com.au.

But should he really be that short?

Murray cruised past Andrey Rublev to reach the third round, but he rolled his ankle and it looked a seriously painful sprain. He played it down, but if you have ever had an ankle sprain you know things can take a little while to really come out.

“It’s just a little bit stiff now,” Murray said.

“It’s OK. I don’t think I’ve done too much damage.”

He will be hoping not, but it leaves the door open for the likes of Milos Raonic, who is second favourite with CrownBet.com.au at $7 and Stan Wawrinka, third on the line of betting at $8.

Both men cruised into the third round and look to have easy draws.

Oh, and by the way, if you missed it, Nick Kyrgios is also out of the Open after his latest on court blow up.

The firebrand Aussie looked like he was cruising, taking the first two sets of Italian Andreas Seppi. But that’s where things went pear shaped.

Kyrgios dropped the next three sets, to bow out of the open, copping two code violations for smashing his racquet and swearing, and being slapped with a pair of fines worth over seven grand.

Yep, our Nick.

It leaves on Bernie Tomic left in the men’s draw after Andrew Whittington and Jordan Thompson bowed out yesterday.

Tomic is way out at $101, with a mountain of class ahead of him, but the Aussie punters and supporters will have their fingers and toes crossed that he can somehow put it together in Melbourne.

The other bloke every one loves is the Fed Express. Roger, recovering from his bad knee and getting a little ripe at 35, is still all grace on the court, but he has to deal with the monster Thomas Berdych.

He is way out at $21, with Berdych chasing him at $81 and a bunch of men in between.

The smart money is, of course on Murray but, with no Djokovic, this one really could be anyone’s.

And hey, it might be anyone’s on the women’s side of the draw too.

Yes, both World Number One Angelique Kerber ($4.75 with WilliamHill.com.au) and World Number Two Serena Williams ($3.40 with WilliamHill.com.au) are still in play, but three and four have been dumped out.

Simona Halep and Agnieszka Radwanska have both been removed from the draw, leaving Karolina Pliskova ($5) and the seriously in form Johanna Konta ($9) to fight it out behind the two stars.

They are the only four players in single figures, with Garbine Muguruza next best at $11.

Aussie darling Daria Gavrilova has made a good fist of her visit to the Open and her odds have been slashed from triple figures into $81.

She and former Women’s Big Bash League player Ashleigh Barty ($151) are the only two Australians left in the draw and both would fancy their chances of at least making it to the fourth round.

It is already an intriguing event, packed with boil overs and player tantrums and the punting action has been rife.

If you haven’t yet ha a crack at William Hill’s Chase the Ace promotion, now is the time to do it.

Get between 50c and $10 worth of bonus bets for every ace the player you bet on serves, regardless of if they win or lose their match.

One bloke had big-serving Croatian Ivo Karlovic in his marathon five and a quarter hour first round match earlier in the tournament.

He served a ridiculous 75 aces and that translated to $750 in bonus bets for the lucky punter!

If you haven’t taken advantage of it.

Kyrgios might have lost his match, but he still fired down 28 aces – that could have netted you $280 if you’re click went in your favour.

John Isner was the other big notable on day three, sending down 33 unplayable serves.

Australian Open men’s market

Andy Murray ($1.90)

Milos Raonic ($7)

Stan Wawrinka ($8)

Rafael Nadal ($10)

Grigor Dimitrov ($17)

Roger Federer ($21)

Kei Nishikori ($23)

Dominic Thiem ($41)

Alexander Zverev ($41)

Gael Monfils ($51)

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga ($51)

David Goffin ($67)

Tomas Berdych ($81)

Richard Gasquet ($81)

Jack Sock ($81)

Roberto Bautista Agut ($101)

Bernard Tomic ($101)

David Ferrer ($151)

Gilles Simon ($151)

Denis Istomin ($151)

Ivo Karlovic ($201)

Daniel Evans ($251)

Pablo Carreno Busta ($251)

Viktor Troicki ($251)

Benoit Paire ($301)

Philipp Kohlschreiber ($301)

Andreas Seppi ($401)

Marcos Baghdatis ($501)

Mischa Zverev ($501)

Sam Querrey ($501)

Malek Jaziri ($1001)

Steve Darcis ($1001)

Lukas Lacko ($1001)

Odds provided by CrownBet.com.au

Australian Open women’s market

Serena Williams ($3.40)

Angelique Kerber ($4.75)

Karolina Pliskova ($5)

Johanna Konta ($9)

Garbine Muguruza ($11)

Elina Svitolina ($21)

Caroline Wozniacki ($26)

Dominika Cibulkova ($26)

Eugenie Bouchard ($29)

Svetlana Kuznetsova ($34)

Venus Williams ($51)

Caroline Garcia ($81)

Ekaterina Makarova ($81)

Daria Gavrilova ($81)

Coco Vandeweghe ($81)

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova ($81)

Jelena Jankovic ($101)

Barbora Strycova ($101)

Jelena Ostapenko ($101)

Timea Bacsinszky ($126)

Alison Riske ($151)

Ashleigh Barty ($151)

Elena Vesnina ($151)

Mirjana Lucic-Baroni ($151)

Kristyna Pliskova ($201)

Sorana Cirstea ($201)

Anastasija Sevastova ($201)

Ying-Ying Duan ($301)

Maria Sakkari ($301)

Nicole Gibbs ($501)

Danka Kovinic ($501)

Odds provided by WilliamHill.com.au

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