US Open Betting - Full Analysis

The fourth and final Grand Slam of 2005 begins on Monday when the US Open is staged in New York. With nearly two months passed since Wimbledon, all the top players have been adopting schedules designed to peak at this time, as there is a long wait for another tilt at one of the big four, the Australian Open in January.

Roger Federer for example took six weeks off following victory at SW19, and some were unsure whether or not he would be suitably prepared for the summer hard court showpiece. However, he laid these doubts to rest at his first outing in Cincinnati last week, beating all who lay in his path to become the first man ever to claim four Masters Shields in one calendar year.

This took his current winning streak to 18 matches, and gave hardcourt figures of 38-1 in terms of matches won and lost on the surface during 2005.

The one defeat came at the Australian Open semi final however, and so denied the Swiss Ace a title which seemed destined to be in his possession. It was an inspired birthday boy, Marat Safin who beat him that day but we would consider a repeat of that very unlikely.

At the French Open it was Rafael Nadal who undid his challenge in the semi finals, again strangely on his birthday, and the young Spaniard now enters the US Open as second favourite.

We have become used over the years to seeing potential Spanish or South American prodigies dominate on the clay courts of Spring, but then fail to translate this into any sort of challenge on other surfaces. Nadal would appear to be different.

Although losing in the second round at Wimbledon there was plenty of genuine promise shown. From London he reverted to the clay that he loves, picking up two more titles at Stuttgart and Bastad (he now has nine this year) before delving into the hard court campaign at the Masters Series event of Canada. Winning that event immediately saw his odds slashed for the US Open, and he is now the 17/4 second favourite.

However, he can still be taken apart on the faster courts, as was shown with a first round exit at the hands of Tomas Berdych in Cincinnati. He can give anyone, including Federer a contest in New York, but we also feel that a lesser player has a good chance against him. For this reason we cannot show support at this price.