The withdrawal of the fragile Andy Murray means Nadal has an easier route to the final, and thus should win it.

The womens competition however is a completely different kettle of fish.

Serena Williams is installed as favourite at $2.37 after winning about her 50th game on the bounce however I just don’t like her game on clay. I honestly don’t think she is mobile enough to be able to take advantage of the slidey surface. Outside of Serena though it could be anyone’s tournament. The womens game regularly throws up huge upsets and unfancied players making the final, so I’m tipping some tasty outsiders.

Sam Stosur $21.00 and Petra Kvitova $26.00 both like the red stuff and can both beat anyone on their day, so I’m value hunting with bets on these two.

That was until he decided to implode against Marin Cilic in the fourth round and go down in straight sets. Cheers Andy.

Looking on the bright side, Rafael Nadal looked much better in his own fourth round clash with Gael Monfils, showing little signs of his injury troubles to win in four sets. He’s since shrunk to 5.00 for the tournament with Canbet, which is still looking reasonable against Roger Federer’s measly 1.62.

Back to the horse racing tipping now and my hunch, Wanna Play Doctor, note ‘hunch’ that’s H-U-N-C-H, came fourth in the Perth Racing Tv Handicap at Belmont Park on Wednesday. His record is still one win and a fourth place in three starts.

Elsewhere and looking ahead to the weekend racing I’m already intrigued by the 1600m Dato Tan Chin Nam Stakes at Moonee Valley on Saturday. Lining up are two early Cox Plate favourites in the shape of El Segundo and Whobegotyou, the former of which has a great record at this venue, not least the Cox Plate itself in 2007. Whobegotyou is last season’s Caulfield Guineas winner and both are at the top of this year’s Cox Plate betting. I’ll be keeping an eye on these two and rest of the field going into the end of the week.

Now on to the markets for the AFL and NRL finals, which are all over the place as the week’s build-ups gather place.

To summarise, the AFL semis are on Friday and Saturday, with Western Bulldogs (1.25) taking on Brisbane Lions (4.00) and Collingwood Magpies (2.12) against Adelaide Crows (1.73), with current odds from Centrenbet.

With the NRL finals, week one starts on Friday with Storm v Sea Eagles, then Saturday sees Titans v Broncos and Bulldogs v Knights, followed by Dragons v Eels on Sunday. Overall current favourites are St George on 3.25, with Melbourne Storm on 5.50. I’ll be monitoring the team news as it happens this week before casting my hat into the ring.

There you go, four sports in one post, that should make you feel better after Murraygate.