Serena’s loss in Australian Open is win for sports books
As great as she is, Serena Williams is no sure thing, which some tennis bettors learned the hard way early Saturday.
Williams opened as a 7-1 favorite against Angelique Kerber in the Australian Open final. After square bettors laid the price, Williams closed at minus-800 at William Hill sports books. Kerber pulled off the upset 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 to claim the year’s first Grand Slam title.
“We won on that match,” William Hill book director Nick Bogdanovich said. “People were betting Serena.”
Kerber was within one point of being eliminated in the opening round of the tournament, but she went on an improbable run and stunned Williams, who entered with a 6-0 record in the Australian Open finals.
Not to say there was anything mysterious about the result. But wager on tennis with caution. The integrity of the sport was called into question in a recent report about match-fixing suspicions from The New York Times.
— Contact reporter Matt Youmans at myoumans@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2907. Follow him on Twitter: @mattyoumans247.
