The last major of the year is kicking off on Monday morning, as all of the best players in the world on the ATP Tour and the WTA Tour descend upon the Big Apple for the U.S. Open.
WHAT TO KNOW
The hard courts in Flushing generally tend to lead to unpredictable results on the tennis odds. On both the men's side and women's side of this tournament, there are 128 players in the main field looking for one of tennis' biggest prizes.
Players tend to get a bit of a break here at the U.S. Open after a grueling road to get here which saw most of the top players play day after day in Canada and in Cincinnati in the ATP Masters tournaments in those respective locations. If Mother Nature cooperates, no player will play on consecutive days, save for the rare couple quarterfinalists on the women's side of the draw who will have to play on the second Wednesday of the tournament in the morning, then turn around and play at night on Thursday in the semifinals.
MEN'S U.S. OPEN
Novak Djokovic +118
Rafael Nadal +2579
Andy Murray +425
Roger Federer +395
Stanislav Wawrinka +1222
Marin Cilic +6401
Kei Nishikori +1634
Though there are several others listed with odds to win the U.S. Open, in all reality, this is the complete list of anyone who has any chance of being even in the final itself, let alone winning the whole thing.
Last year, Marin Cilic beat Kei Nishikori in the oddest Grand Slam final we have seen on the men's side in quite some time. One would have to think really hard to find the last time prior to this that not one of Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal or Roger Federer was in a Grand Slam final.
Cilic though, has a real chance to get into the semifinals once again. He won't play a ranked player until likely running into Grigor Dimitrov in the third round and David Ferrer in the fourth, but having Kei Nishikori in his quadrant of the draw certainly makes this the winnable grouping of the four.
Seeing anyone aside from Djokovic, Murray and Federer in the semifinals in the other four quads would be a shock. Djokovic, who is just short of the odds on favorite, does have to contend with Nadal in the quarterfinals, but clearly, the Spaniard is a shell of his old self.
WOMEN'S U.S. OPEN
Serena Williams -122
Victoria Azarenka +1015
Simona Halep +1213
Eugenie Bouchard +6544
Petra Kvitova +1615
Caroline Wozniacki +3150
Agnieszka Radwanska +4505
Ana Ivanovic +6421
Garbine Muguruza Blanco +3255
Angelique Kerber +3092
Karolina Pliskova +5048
Sloane Stephens +5183
Madison Keys +5180
Samantha Stosur +6422
Lucie Safarova +4506
Belinda Bencic +2432
Every other woman in this field is set beyond 65 to 1, and it would be a stunner if any of them ended up playing a role in this tournament beyond the second Tuesday of this tournament.
All eyes will be on Serena Williams, the holder of the first three major championships this year. She has already pulled off what has become known as the "Serena Slam," holding all four Grand Slam trophies at the same time, but no player on either the WTA or ATP Tours has won the traditional Grand Slam since Steffi Graf did so in 1988.
A week from Saturday could change all of that, as Williams has a chance to claim her fifth straight major title. She's an odds on favorite to do so, and for good reason.
However, this draw is not an easy one for the America. Williams could draw Sloane Stephens, an up and coming American who has shown flashes of brilliance here on hard courts in the third round, while there's a decent chance she could draw another young American, Madison Keys in the fourth round before taking on Karolina Pliskova, who has quietly made her way up to the No. 8 ranked player in the world.
Victoria Azarenka is the second favorite to win the U.S. Open, while Simona Halep, a player who has played quite well on hard courts in recent weeks, is the third choice and is the most likely to snatch the last Grand Slam title from Williams.
The tennis online odds for the U.S. Open will be first available at BookMaker Sportsbook. Gamble on all of the matches between every commercial break with BookMaker's live betting feature. Live betting is the most exciting way to play!
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