Friday 23 January 2015 16:56, UK
Andy Murray’s Australian Open odds have been halved following Roger Federer’s shock third-round exit.
The Scot was facing the potential task of having to beat Federer and Rafael Nadal just to reach the final, before world No 46 Andreas Seppi upset the 17-time Grand Slam champion.
Murray has now been cut from 9/1 to 9/2 by Sky Bet, while Federer's departure also saw Nadal’s odds come in, from 9/1 to 6/1.
Four-time winner Novac Djokovic is just 4/5 to win the event, with reigning champion Stanislas Wawrinka (12/1) and Kei Nishikori (14/1) considered the other main contenders from the world no 1’s half of the draw.
Second-seed Federer was also hoping to lift the trophy for a fifth time and was considered second favourite before his exit, having reached the semi-finals for 11 successive years.
In contrast, Murray came into the event amid modest expectations, having ended a disappointing 2014 - in which he failed to make a Grand Slam final - with a 6-0 6-1 thumping by the Swiss star at the ATP World Tour Finals.
However, he has made impressive progress down under, not losing a set en route to setting up a fourth-round clash with Grigor Dimitrov.
The Bulgarian has been less convincing, dropping a set to world no 99 Lukas Lacko before being taken the distance by Marcos Baghdatis on Friday.
Sky Bet tennis trader Ned Brooker said: “It looked a mission impossible for Murray when he was presented with such a tough draw and we were taking him on in the betting, Price-Boosting him from 5/2 to 9/2 to reach the final.
“However, those odds have now been cut to 7/4 and, while it still looks a big ask for him to win it, we’d be foolish to write him off, especially given the what happened last year.”
