Tennis betting can be very rewarding if you have a little patience and know which matches to bet on. The majors are even better with star-studded fields all playing for that Grand Slam victory. Betting exchanges are one of the best options when betting on these feature events. You can bet that, by the end of the week, at least half of the seeded players have been eliminated. Pick the right games and you can make a real killing.

One of the benefits of betting on a betting exchange is that you can bet on a player losing. This can yield much better odds – for example, Andy Murray is 1/40 to win while his opponent is 20/1. If you were to back Murray to lose, you would be taking 40/1. If you think he can win, then you are better off backing his opponent to lose at 1/20 – you can see how much better the value is by backing someone to lose.

Bookmakers are looking at this as being another classic Nadal v Federer with both players around 2/1 in outright markets. Andy Murray will have to defeat Nadal in the semi-final to make the finals so bookmakers have him as third favourite at 8/1. Djokovic is the only other player in the market and he is at 10/1.

This will be an interesting first week. You can expect a big showing from local hero Lleyton Hewitt. He has prepared well and yesterday won the Kooyong Classic, the lead-up event to this is the Open. Nadal is still trying to shake a flu virus so he could be vulnerable early, and Federer is not getting any younger. Don’t be surprised to see someone springing a surprise this year. Soderling has been playing well and will be dangerous as will del Potro who is coming back from injury.

Right now, choose your matches well and you may find some good value in early matches as some of the seeds make their exits.