Roger Federer of Switzerland serves to Lleyton Hewitt of Australia during their men's final match at the Brisbane International tennis tournament
Roger Federer of Switzerland serves to Lleyton Hewitt of Australia during their men's final match at the Brisbane International tennis tournament Reuters

The 2014 Australian Open begins next Wednesday, Jan. 15. The usual frontrunners are battling out for the Men’s Singles title this year. Serbian Novak Djokovic, the defending champion, is atop the list and considered the pre-tournament favourite.

However, Rafael Nadal of Spain, who ended up at no. 1 in the ATP rankings in 2013 and the come-backing Andy Murray of United Kingdom, who lost to Djokovic in the 2013 Final, are not far behind in the sports betting odds. This means anybody can win it this year.

There are also others like of Roger Federer (Switzerland), Juan Martin Del Potro (Argentina), Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (France) and Stanislas Wawrinka (Switzerland), all of whom have a chance to upset anybody at the top and are hard-pressed to prove their worth this year, either as previous slam winners (Federer and Del Potro) or finally break the ice (Tsonga, Wawrinka).

Odds to Win 2014 Australian Open – Top 12 Favorites
 1. N. Djokovic (2.0)
2. R. Nadal (3.6)
3. A. Murray (6.5)
4. R. Federer (12.0)
5. J. Del Potro (13.0)
6. J. Tsonga (36.0)
7. S. Wawrinka (41.0)
8. T. Berdych (67.0)
9. M Raonic (81.0)
10. G Dimitrov (101.0)
11. B. Tomic (101.0)
12. J. Janowicz (101.0)

If Djokovic plays true to form - and to sports books' expectations - he will break the record for most titles by anyone in the Open Era - or after 1968 when professionals were allowed to join the tournament. The Serbian is currently tied with Federer and Andre Agassi with four Aussie titles. The all-time leader is actually Roy Emerson who has six championships but all came before 1968.

For the uninitiated in sports betting the formula is as follows:

X (Amount of Bet) times Betting Odds = Total Payout

For example, if a bettor wagers $100 on Djokovic at 2.0 odds then that bettor gets a total payout of $200 or $100 winnings. The same bet of $100 on Federer (12.0) will earn a cool $1,200 (or $1,100 winnings!) for anyone who backs the legendary Swiss! Or if you’re one to pick the heavy underdog… $100 on Bernard Tomic (101.0) will win you a $10,100 payout!

So while the players are shooting for a part of the record prize money of AU$33 million in 2014, you can also win a few bucks or more if you can prediction the first Grand Slam champion of the year.

Will Djokovic earn his fourth straight title in Melbourne? Will Nadal prove that he’s indeed the no. 1 player in the world? Or will we see one great run from Federer who’s in the twilight of his career?