The U.S. Open begins today in New York and the stage is set for some great betting opportunities on both the men’s and women’s side. Here’s a breakdown of the draw for each.
On the men’s side, the U.S. Open has recently been a Grand Slam exception to the Roger Federer/Rafael Nadal era of tennis. Andy Roddick and Juan Martin del Potro have provided a great challenge in the past and we could see a new winner this year. Andy Murray has shown glimpses of hope, while Mardy Fish and Marcos Baghdatis emerged as pleasant surprises in the Cincinnati Masters. Bookmakers have Federer and Nadal at the top of the betting lines, but Murray is sneaking in there.
Federer fell flat following his Australian Open win, but has finished second and first in the last two ATP Masters series tournaments. The seasoned Swede has five U.S. Open championships and is definitely a threat again this year. His biggest challenge looks to come from the rising Murray and Nadal, who has yet to complete the full set of Grand Slam titles with the U.S. Open. Del Potro provided an upset in 2009 and we could see that again from the likes of Nikolay Davydenko, Roddick or Robin Soderling.
For the first time in a great while, the women’s side is wide open. This is because Serena Williams is out with a foot injury. The form player on the WTA Tour lately has been Caroline Wozniacki, who took the Sony Ericsson Open and the Rogers Cup in Montreal. Svetlana Kuznetsova made a name for herself by winning the Mercury Insurance Open. Kim Clijsters is leading the odds for the U.S. Open fresh off a Cincinnati Masters win. It’s deservedly so, since she shows the most power on hard courts. Along with Serena, Justin Henin is out too. That gives good seeding to Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka. It’s also a chance for Venus Williams to shine and get back to her old ways with Serena out of the picture for once. Wozniacki has shown plenty of maturity, but the best back bet is Clijsters on the women’s side of the U.S. Open.
Visit the links at the top for a variety of betting markets on both the women’s and men’s side of the U.S. Open tennis championship.