Australian Open Betting / Sean Calvert / 24 January 2012 /

World number one Novak Djokovic will face the biggest test of this tournament so far when he goes up against the tireless David Ferrer and this could be a long one. Elsewhere, Maria Sharapova should find it a lot easier against shock quarter-finalist Ekaterina Makarova.

There was more misfortune on Day Nine in Melbourne yesterday, as Agnieszka Radwanska capitulated after taking the first set against Victoria Azarenka.

The Pole managed to win just two games in the final two sets, which took down my handicap bet that was looking good early on.

The other annoying aspect is that my fancy of Kim Clijsters at odds against over the thankfully now deposed 'world number one' Caroline Wozniacki did come in in straight sets.

And what can you say about Roger Federer, who destroyed Juan Martin Del Potro to set up a rare semi final clash with Rafa Nadal?

Day 10 should bring some respite though with Andy Murray taking on Kei Nishikori in the early hours of the morning for a place in the semi finals.

Murray has benefited from a dream draw in Melbourne so far, with Gael Monfils losing and allowing Murray a match against a partially fit Mikhail Kukushkin before Nishikori took out Tsonga for him.

The injury-prone Nishikori comes in to this match having played three five setters in a row for the first time in his career and his record of breaking down should concern his backers today.

I said in my preview of his match against Julien Benneteau that this is a guy on his way to the top-20 and so it has proved with that win over Tsonga (so he can beat the best) but I don't like the match up with Murray.

Nishikori likes to play guys that come at him and he'll have the opposite with Murray, who with a lot of gas left in the tank should have few problems winning this one fairly comfortably. The [1.65] about 3-0 looks good in that one if you're having a bet.

Both of the women's quarter finals should prove to be wins for the heavy favourites - Maria Sharapova and Petra Kvitova against opponents who will be delighted to have just reached the last eight.

It would be a massive shock if Sara Errani's defensive pushing came out on top against Petra Kvitova, who would need to hit a ton of unforced errors, while Makarova will be hoping that Sharapova has one of her nightmare matches on serve.

The only bet I'd consider in the women's is the 2-0 to Sharapova, who won't find the awkward lefty Makarova coming at her with the same power as Sabine Lisicki did yesterday.

Makarova needs to be able to move Sharapova forward where she's more vulnerable and I very much doubt that Maria will allow her the time to do that, so the 2008 champ should win enough of the points from the back of the court.

Sharapova has won the pair's first two meetings, which were both on Maria's least favoured clay surface and the [1.8] about her taking out first time Slam quarter finalist Makarova in straight sets looks a decent price.

The last match of the day is Novak Djokovic v David Ferrer and I think
the bet in this one is the overs at a mark of 31.5 games and odds
of around [1.8].

Ferrer is perennially underrated by the layers and this match could be a tougher battle than the odds suggest.

I expect Djokovic to come out on top and the [4.3] about him winning 3-1 looks tempting, but I can't see Ferrer being taken out in a comfortable straight sets as the layers have it.

If Djokovic goes into this shell as he did against Lleyton Hewitt he could be in for a long evening against an opponent who you have to scrape off the court, as Murray found out last year.

The world number one's backhand down the line needs to be on fire to keep the points as short as possible from Nole's viewpoint and if he does that successfully he'll win, but the Spaniard should have more than enough to make this a match on his recent impressive form.

Recommended Bets

Back Sharapova to beat Makarova 2-0 at [1.8]
Back Over 31.5 games in Djokovic v Ferrer at [1.8]

Follow Sean on Twitter @seancalvert1

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