Australian Open Betting: Daddy's girl is darling of rowdy crowd

Australian Open Betting / Gary Boswell / 26 January 2009 / Leave a Comment

The Boz plots a Melbourne soap opera as outsiders Jelena Dokic and Marion Bartoli make it to the quarter-finals...

Eccentric fathers are a common denominator in top class sport and two proteges of 'demented daddies' have made it through to the quarter-finals of the Australian Open against the odds.

You need to bring in the psychiatrists to estimate how much positive influence these father figures have but in the case of Jelena Dokic and Marion Bartoli, there's no arguing with the quality of play that has catapulted them into the last eight.

Dokic was matched for £12 at [1000.00] before the tournament began and has greatly benefited from home support. The former world number four was dead on her feet against Alisya Kleybanova but, like Lester Piggott lifting tired horses over the line, the Melbourne crowd rose to carry their adopted flower to victory.

Gone are the images of Damir Dokic burying his fish and chips in the face of a Croatian waiter at Wimbledon. Forgotten are the claims of draw fixing that saw Lindsay Davenport accused of Masonic favouritism. Serbo-Croat aggression has been a feature of Melbourne 2009 but Damir has not been part of it. Instead, his estranged daughter has reclaimed her adopted home and become the darling of the rowdy crowd . Jelena Dokic is the new Kathy Freeman.

What chance of her overcoming Dinara Safina in the quarters? Not much according to oddsmakers although Safina has drifted out from [1.18] to [1.26] since I started writing and now Dokic is a less generous [4.6]. Perhaps it has been noted that the current world number three had to save two match points in the last round against Alize Cornet.

One of those tidal waves the Bondis like to surf on is building behind Dokic. She has returned from the wilderness and is playing pretty much as she did way back when she was top ten.

It is reported that she went into the wilderness because the enforced break from Daddy, whilst necessary for sanity, adversely affected her game. No doubt that his coaching/management had led her to her top five position. Without it, she became temporarily lost. The two years out allowed her to draw a line under the past, start again and emerge as a grown woman.

I saw her win Birmingham in 2002 against Anastasia Mysinka and can confirm the standard she played at then is back. Safina better watch out!

By contrast, the success of Bartoli matched at [300.0] before the tournament began, is less of a shock. These days, Monsieur Bartoli is also considerably less divisive in his eccentricities while coaching his daughter. What's odd in getting her to serve along the lines he casts his fishing rod? Who could call making shoes out of tennis balls to encourage an avoidance of flat-footedness bizarre?

Marion Bartoli took a lot of flak when she reached her first Grand Slam final at Wimbledon in 2007. Christened 'dumpy' by those insensitive buffoons on FiveLive and worse - 'a fatty not far off Arbuckle' by the TV pundits - Monsieur Bartoli took things personally. In an effort to protect his athletic daughter, who was excelling in her sport, from adverse media reaction, he engaged a personal trainer with the specific brief to help Marion lose weight.

Author Gail Hall - an expert in eating disorders - champions what happened next as a text model for all humankind. The personal trainer noted that at her new 'lighter weight', Marion's tennis was 'weaker'. He recommended she put the weight back on immediately and return to her natural size in a move that Hall describes as 'a sanity for women everywhere.'

How fabulous to see 'Fatty' blow Jankovic off court with her trademark double handed forehand - pioneered by that other beefcake, Monica Seles.The oddsmakers don't give Bartoli much chance against Zvonareva. You can get [3.5] for the Bartoli win and [1.37] for the inform Russian, who beat Bartoli 6-0 6-1 last time they played. A repeat trouncing is available at [2.0].

If you've taken the [1000.0] on Dokic and [300.0] Bartoli in the outrights, you'll be in seventh heaven now that they've both made the quarter-finals. The choice to hedge or to let the fortune roll is all yours.

If you've not bet them yet, there's still time with both considered outsiders in the outrights. Dokic [20.0] and Bartoli [23.0]. No allowance being made for the fact that both Russian quarter-final opponents are about to feel the full force of the 'demented Daddy' factor!