US OPEN BETTING PICKS ANDY MURRAY VS LUKAS LACKO

Andy Murray is looking for his first major triumph at the 2010 US Open. Going into the event, Murray was the bookies third favourite to the crown, behind Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
The fate of his campaign rests on how well he starts. He begins his bid today at Arthur Ashe Stadium against Lukas Lacko of Slovakia, an unheralded player but no less threatening for it.
Naturally, Murray is installed the firm favourite to win outright across the board. William Hill lists Murray as the whopping 1/50 favourite. An untouchable price indeed.
He’s also the firm favourite to dispatch Lacko in straight sets, listed at 1/4.
Speaking of sets, the markets are leaning towards a straightforward affair, tipped at 2/9. By contrast, a four or five setter is deemed less likely, priced at 16/5 and 11/1, respectively.
For tennis bettors looking to back Murray further, he is on offers of 1/16 to take both the first and second set, respectively.
I think it is safe to assume Murray is the better bet in this match. Everything points towards him getting off the ground quickly and moving into the second round smoothly.
But what about Lukas Lacko. Is there no credence in his game? Enough to make him, at the very least, a tempting bet in some of the performance markets.
To win outright he is a long shot bet, priced at 12/1. A victory by the Slovak here would be such a huge upset it would send seismic shockwaves through the tournament that would still be felt for some days afterwards.  
While there isn’t much to support the notion of an upset, it’s not as if it were entirely unlikely. Upsets do happen, after all.
Lacko has had some eyebrow-raising wins over household names this season, such as Lleyton Hewitt, Marcos Baghdatis and Ivan Ljubicic to name a few.  Still he’s never beaten a worldclass player as Murray is, and while sporting top form and in his element.,
In some ways, I don’t think Lacko will be a cakewalk. He has a blistering forehand and he likes hard courts well enough. I do believe these fundamentals in his game will be good enough to give Murray a serious run for his money.
Lacko is trading at a whopping 50/1 to win in straight sets, which even I agree is almost unthinkable. A four or five set win is going for 33/1 and 18/1, respectively. I do believe if we go to five sets, the latter is quite possible and, I might add, reasonably priced.
I think this match has the potential to be the popcorn match of the day. Conditions are sweltering in New York and if yesterday’s events were an indication where almost all day matches turned it to right slugfests, we might be in store for another.