The US Open Tennis Championship takes center court in Flushing Meadows, New York, beginning Aug. 25 but for the first time in recent wagering memory oddsmakers can't even agree on which players should be made the tennis betting favorites to win the men's and women's singles titles in the year's fourth and final Major.
Of 19 sportsbooks surveyed, 14 listed Rafael Nadal as the opening future book favorite while three others quoted Roger Federer as the man to beat and two sportsbooks couldn't decide, making Nadal and Federer co-favorites.
On the women's side, nine sportsbooks offered Serena Williams as the favorite in futures while three preferred Ana Ivanovic and one named the ladies as co-favorites. Displaying a bit of chauvinism, six sportsbooks that had future book odds for the men had yet to post prices for the women.
The case for Nadal, who ranged in price from a low of 3/2 to a high of 12/5, is compelling but not overwhelming. The left-handed Spaniard took over the No. 1 world ranking from Federer shortly after defeating the Swiss stylist at Wimbledon, his first Grand Slam victory on a surface other than the red clay courts at the French Open. Nadal arrives in New York seeking to become just the fourth man in history to win the French Open, Wimbledon and US Open in the same year.
Federer is the four-time defending champion at the US Open where he has been an odds-on future book choice each of the past three years. While it's unexpected that Federer still is seeking his first Major victory of 2008, his loss to Nadal in an epic five-set match at Wimbledon and his recent fall from the top ranking is a boon for tennis betting fans who believe that Federer can capture a fifth straight US Open and now will have their confidence rewarded with longer odds.
Federer was listed at a low of 7/4 to a high of 13/5 in futures.
So, if you believe another Nadal-Federer final is inevitable, you could take 12/5 on Nadal and 13/5 on Federer in futures, assuring yourself a modest profit…if one of them wins.
But most tennis betting aficionados believe that Novak Djokovic, the 2008 Australian Open champion and the world's third ranked male tennis player, also has a shot. Oddsmakers agree, listing the Serbian striker from a low of 2/1 to a high of 7/2.
Andrew Murray, who is ranked ninth in the world, is quoted at odds of 10/1 in futures while former US Open champion and sixth ranked Andy Roddick is listed as high as 50/1 at one sportsbook.
You can get 80/1 odds on fourth ranked Nikolay Davydenko and triple digits on anyone else in the quality men's field.
With six women at future book odds of under 10/1, the ladies crown is even more up for grabs than the men's singles title. Serena Williams, the 1999 and 2002 US Open champion, is listed at a low of 2/1 to a high of 17/5.
Ivanovic, who's been in and out of the No. 1 ranking this year, broke through with her first Major win at the French Open in May. The sultry Serb is on the board at a low of 5/2 to a high of slightly more than 4/1.
The women's side lost a fan and betting favorite when Australian Open champion Maria Sharapova bowed out with a shoulder injury but Venus Williams, Jelena Jankovic and Dinara Safina should help fill the wagering void. Williams, who won her fifth Wimbledon title this year, is quoted at odds ranging from 4/1 to 5/1 while Jankovic, the world's No. 1 player that no one knows, and Safina, an emerging star, each are in the 5/1 to 8/1 range.
Former US Open champions Svetlana Kuznetsova and Lindsay Davenport, as well as Major winners such as Amelie Mauresmo, are anywhere from 12/1 to 66/1.
It may be the last Major of the season but the US Open also appears to the best tennis betting event of the year.
