The US Open gets underway this afternoon and it looks set to be a highly entertaining tournament with the new roof on Arthur Ashe stadium and both the men’s and women’s tournaments looking fairly open with doubts surrounding Djokovic’s form and Serena’s wobbles here in the past. It would not be a surprise if we witnessed a new winner and/or finalists this year and if you tuned in to my US Open Ante Post selections and preview this weekend you will have picked up on a few players from both the men’s and women’s draw who I think can achieve this, namely Gael Monfils (advised at 200/1 now 100/1), Johanna Konta (advised 66/1) and Petra Kvitova (25/1).
I also advised Juan Martin Del Potro (25/1) after his great run at the Olympics and as promised in my US Open preview I will provide you with my thoughts on some of the players who I think can win their respective Quarters of the draw and reach the semi-finals. With doubts surrounding Djokovic’s form heading in to this year’s tournament its worth opposing him in the First Quarter of the draw and seventh seed Marin Cilic (6/1) has to be the call as a previous US Open winner, semi-finalist and after winning his first Masters Series title at Cincinnati recently where he beat Murray in the final.
The Third Quarter also appeals with third seed Wawrinka and eighth seed Thiem’s form being inconsistent over the summer. Nick Kyrgios (8/1) seeded 14 has the game to beat any of the players in the Third Quarter, has winning form against Thiem and Wawrinka and if he can stay focussed over the first week and not expend to much energy in the early rounds there’s no reason why he can’t win this section.
From a first match betting and trading perspective I like the following Treble at just over 3/1 Karlovic to beat Lu, Klizan to beat Youzhny and Kachanov to beat Fabbiano and the below trades.
Dominic Thiem (2/7) had a great first half of the season establishing himself as a top-10 player in the process however, since losing at the second round stage of Wimbledon he has struggled with injury and form and is worth opposing from a trading perspective against John Millman who is a dangerous player and in form on hard courts having reached the semi-finals at Winston Salem last week.
Since Gael Monfils (2/7) picked up a back injury at the Olympics there has to be doubts surrounding his ability to perform at 100%, which was backed up by his subsequent withdrawal at Cincinnati, and with that in mind he is worth opposing from a trading perspective against Gilles Muller who has the game to cause the Frenchman problems even when he is 100% fit.
Stan Wawrinka (1/3) plays Fernando Verdasco in the first round, has found beating him difficult in the past and trails the head-to-head 3-2. Verdasco is experiencing a strong end to his career and is more than capable of causing Wawrinka problems again today.
Finally, Ana Ivanovic (7/17) has struggled to maintain her form this season and as a result has dropped out of the top-30. She has a losing record on hard courts this season, lost at the first round stage of the Olympics and Cincinnati and is worth opposing against Denisa Allertova at short odds again.
