Bet on seeded Stosur and Petrova to be upset at Australian Open

Although two of the top seeds in the women’s Australian Open draw Kim Clijsters and Vera Zvonareva are both in third round action in Melbourne, some of the other showdowns present better betting opportunities.

Only three of the top 16 in the female draw have been eliminated so far, but there is every possibility that Samantha Stosur and Nadia Petrova will add their name to the casualty list.

Home favourite Stosur was happy with her ball striking in her second round success over Vera Dushevina and is 1/2 in the Australian Open betting to follow up with another victory over Petra Kvitova.

However, left-hander Kvitova is consistently improving and made a major breakthrough last year when making the semi-finals of a Grand Slam for the first time at Wimbledon.

She also came into the Australian Open high on confidence after winning her first tournament of 2010 at the Brisbane International.

With Stosur liable to feel the pressure of the home support, Kvitova could be overpriced at 6/4 to progress.

Another upset may be on the cards as 13th seed Petrova faces Ekaterina Makarova.

Makarova has already been responsible for knocking out the seeded Ana Ivanovic in Australia and triumphed in her one previous meeting with Petrova at Eastbourne last year.

Furthermore, Petrova fell in the first round in both her preparation tournaments for the Australian Open and these facts make Makarova a solid betting proposition at 5/4.

Those preferring to fancy the favourite can get 4/7 that Petrova reaches the fourth round of the tournament for the fourth year in succession.

In the other action, second seed Zvonareva is 1/7 to beat Lucie Safarova, while tournament favourite Clijsters is 1/50 to progress past Alize Cornet.

A £25 stake on Kvitova beating Stosur in three sets would return £87.50. New customers can sign up here for a free £25 bet.