Australian Open: Djokovic and Wawrinka a huge price to go distance

The second men’s semi-final at the Australian Open sees a repeat of the last-eight match-up from 2014 and while it’s a brave call to back defending champion Stanislas Wawrinka to shock number one seed Novak Djokovic once again, another five-set thriller is a gripping price.

Given Djokovic hasn’t dropped a set en-route to this showdown, as he chases an unprecedented fifth Australian crown in the Open Era, the 1/5 about the world number one winning appears justified.

However, 7/2 outsider Wawrinka rewarded those who dared 12 months ago and Stan has showed he’s no flash-in-the-pan champion by arriving here for the loss of just one set himself.

Here at News.Ladbrokes we are dodging a bullet by not naming a winner, but feel there is plenty of profit to be had in other areas of judgement on the contest.

Exactly five sets @ 4/1

Both men arrive in sizzling form, having bossed their quarter-finals against dangerous opponents and recent Slam meetings suggest those packed into Rod Lever Arena are in for a treat.

Over the pair’s last three Grand Slam meetings – taking in the 2013 US Open semis and Aussie Open round-of-16 clash as well – five sets were required to settle the score.

For this reason alone a fourth-straight match going the distance has bags of appeal at the price.

Over 41.5 total games @ 11/8

The last two Aussie Open meetings reached epic proportions by going beyond regulation distance in the fifth sets.

The quarter-final ended with a 9-7 scoreline in Stan’s favour in the concluding set, only trumped by the 22-game final installment in 2013, which the Serb claimed.

The quoted game-line would have been pummelled in the US Open encounter sandwiched in between their duels Down Under as well.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.

Fancy a flutter? Sign up today to claim up to £25 in free bets.