The US Open 2017 will be missing one of its biggest stars in the men’s draw as Novak Djokovic won’t be competitive at Flushing Meadows. After his struggles this season he decided to pull himself from the rest of the season because of his elbow injury so the two-time US Open champion won’t be back around this time. Reigning champion Stan Wawrinka isn’t in action either because of injury. With Andy Murray not having a particularly good season by his high standards (all because of injuries), he has drifted out to the fourth favourite in the US Open 2017 betting a long way back of outright favourite Roger Federer.
US Open Winner Odds
Roger Federer 11/8, Rafael Nadal 5/2, Alexander Zverev 7/1, Andy Murray 13/2, Nick Kyrgios 14/1, Marin Cilic 14/1, Grigor Dimitrov 16/1, Dominic Thiem 20/1, Milos Raonic 20/1, Juan Martin del Potro 20/1
US Open Promotion
Online betting site Bet365 run a great tennis accumulator bonus where you can earn a bonus of up to 50% on accumulator wins. This offer applies to winnings on pre-match accumulators of 2 or more selections on To Win Match, First Set Winner and Set Betting markets for Singles and Doubles matches from any Grand Slam, ATP, WTA or Challenger Tour event, as well as Singles and Doubles matches from the Davis Cup, Fed Cup and Hopman Cup. The maximum bonus that you can receive is £100,000. Register an account with online betting site Bet365 and earn a 100% matched deposit bonus as a welcome offer.
US Open Preview
So once again it is eyes down on the US Open at Flushing Meadows, the fourth and final Grand Slam of the season. Federer has claimed two of the other three Slams played so far this season in what has been a remarkable resurgence to the top and you can’t cite the failings of Djokovic and Murray’s form this season as playing its part in it. Federer has just been running in such hot form that he has been unstoppable. The French Open this year went to legendary clay court specialist Rafael Nadal and it is they who are the strongest contenders going into this. It’s going to be all about the draw and who can avoid Federer really until the final.
Roger Federer
What a tremendous season it has been for Federer. He has rolled back the years in claiming the Australian Open and Wimbledon this year and he has just looked fresh and majestic. He has managed his playing time really well this season and has developed his new forehand weapon which opponents still haven’t figured out. Federer’s last title at the US Open came back in 2009 the last of his five consecutive titles that he earned there between 2004 and 2008 inclusive. He has been to the final twice since then, losing in 2009 to Juan Martin del Potro and to Djokovic back in 2015. He will have the wind in his sails and is going to be so hard to stop. Totally justifiable outright favourite as long as he is fully fit. He withdrew from Cincinnati recently after a back issues picked up in Montreal.
Rafael Nadal
The Spaniard is a two-time winner of the US Open, his last title coming in 2014 when he got the better of Novak Djokovic in the showcase match. Nadal, largely through his injuries and lack of form hasn’t been past the fourth round since his title win in 2013 in New York. His career win percentage at the US Open is behind both his records at the French Open and the Australian Open. But you can look back to the start of the year when he reached the final of the Australian Open on the hard court and take something from that. He will benefit from Djokovic’s absence and Murray’s lack of form and he is the new world number one already which will just boost his confidence further.
Alexander Zverev
It seems pretty odd not to be talking about one of the big four as the third favourite for the US Open Grand Slam. But the young German has collected five titles this season on the ATP this season and looks a different beast to what he was back in March. What really will have raised his stock here is his Rogers Cup title victory over Roger Federer recently. That was no mean feat and showed that he has the potential to really mix it up with the big boys. No-one is going to want to run into him in the draw, that’s for sure. He is still young and really doesn’t have a track record in the Slams. He hasn’t been past the second round at Flushing Meadows yet.
Andy Murray
There are question marks over whether or not Murray is actually 100% fit for this one and has drifted in the odds at bet365. It turned out that he wasn’t through his Wimbledon campaign where he limped out in the quarter finals against Sam Querrey. He hasn’t been in action since then at all but does the fact that he is even showing up in New York mean that he is 100% healthy? It really wouldn’t be worth risking himself further just to hopefully make it to the fourth round. The hard courts are his best surface but there are just too many questions over his health.
The Best of the Rest
It has been a bit of a strange build up to the US Open. Not only do you have Murray’s injury concerns, but Roger Federer, Marin Cilic and Milos Raonic all pulled out of Cincinnati because of injury worries. Then throw on top of that the withdrawals of Djokovic and Wawrinka then it makes betting a little more confusing. Of the list of the main challengers outside of the top four going into this one, it would have to be Cilic. He has a decent enough track record in New York, which was the scene of his only Grand Slam success back in 2014. He followed that up with a semi final run in his title defence and this year he reached the final of Wimbledon.
US Open Betting Tips
There could be a whole bunch of walking wounded hobbling through the men’s draw here. Because of that, it has to be Rafa Nadal who gets our nod at 5/2 with bet365. Ironically really he is the only one of the big four who has remained fit and healthy all year and he is back on top of the world for the first time since 2014. That is something that will really give him an extra push at Flushing Meadows and is well worth a punt just in case Federer has an issue after his Cincinnati withdrawal.
