Winter sunshine with tennis

For many of us busy Mums, the closest thing we can ever get to winter sunshine is looking at a few travel websites, browsing some travel mags – or watching it on TV. And when it comes to doing the latter, there’s nowhere quite as much fun to catch some “vicarious” sunshine as Melbourne for the first Grand Slam tennis tournament of the year; theAustralian Open, in January.

And this year’s Aussie Open promises to be one of the most fascinating of any Grand Slam event ever, most notably on the men’s side of the draw. That’s because it’s almost impossible to decide who’s going to win it. There are three main contenders. The first, and the firm favourite, is the winner of this event for the last three years, Novak Djokovic. And of course, he has a wonderful chance of winning.

But not far behind him in the betting market with Betfair, the biggest betting exchange in the world, is Rafael Nadal.

The great thing about a punt on theAussie Open with Betfair is that you can lay back the bet if your pick starts to do well – and lock in a profit whatever happens.

Nadal has proved he’s back to his best after a lay-off earlier this year due to injury, by winning the French Open for an incredible eighth time – then triumphing again at Flushing Meadows in the U.S. Open where he overcame Djokovic in the final.

The other big contender is the man who won the only other Grand Slam event we haven’t mentioned so far; Wimbledon. And that was, of course, Andy Murray. He has been runner-up in Melbourne in three of the last four Aussie Opens and he’ll be very keen to prove that he’s also back to his best having taken time out for an operation on his back. His showing in the U.S. Open (where he was reigning champion) was slightly disappointing – so his determination to prove himself again will be greater than ever and he could be a good longshot.

All in all – it promises to be a great tournament and, when taken with a glass of Pimms and some strawberries and cream in the early hours of the UK morning, can give you a real lift.

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