Who’ll Win the US Open?

Thu, Aug 1, 2024
by CapperTek

All eyes will be on the US Open tennis tournament in August. Can Novak Djokovic retain the title he won last year or will we see an American winner?  The New York tournament promises to be a thrilling one and a great event to bet on too.

Last year saw Novak Djokovic win the US Open for the fourth time in his illustrious career. Few would have bet on him not winning another Grand Slam since then. That’s been the case though so are we seeing a change of guard at the top of the men’s game?

Djokovic hasn’t had a successful 2024 and at the time of writing this article, he had yet to lift a trophy. His only final had been at Wimbledon where he eventually lost to Carlos Alcaraz in straight sets.

His win over Daniil Medvedev in last year’s final was his first US Open title since 2018. There have of course been problems caused by his reluctance to have the COVID-19 vaccine. Then there was his famous disqualification in the 2020 tournament.

Djokovic has had injury problems and some unexpected defeats this year. Whether he can defy the odds and win a fifth title remains to be seen.

The US Open men’s singles title is not an easy one to defend. You have to go back to 2008 for the last successful defense. That was achieved by the legendary Roger Federer who won all the tournaments played between 2004 and 2008. Well done to anyone who can remember that the previous player to retain the US Open title was Patrick Rafter in 1998.

It’s pretty inevitable that Djokovic won’t be the favorite to win the title this year. Carlos Alcaraz (who won in 2022) is likely to have that honor.

The Spaniard has played the US Open three times and never lost before the quarter-final stage. Last year saw him beaten in the semi-finals..He’s won the last two Grand Slams with success at Roland Garros and Wimbledon. Winning the US Open won’t just mean he’s won three successive Grand Slam events. It’ll be a special achievement as each will have been won on a different surface.

Betting on tennis is incredibly popular as is sports betting in general. Tennis tournaments are played around the globe almost every week of the year. There are always plenty of odds available on who will win tournaments and individual matches. With in-play betting, you can be placing wagers throughout the match.

New Jersey was one of the states that campaigned long and hard for sports betting to be made legal, especially online. 2018 saw a US Supreme Court Judge make a ruling that allowed individual states to have the final say on whether or not to legalize betting.

With that ruling in place, New Jersey was as quick as a Carlos Alcaraz serve to change the laws. New Jersey’s online sports betting has been hugely successful and dozens popular legal betting apps in NJ such as Fanduel and Draftkings earned massive amounts for the state from gambling tax revenue.

Another contender for favoritism will be Jannik Sinner who currently tops the world rankings. The Italian won the Australian Open at the start of this year but has never made it past the last eight at Flushing Meadows.

Not since 2003 has an American won the men’s singles at the US Open. That was Andy Roddick and he’s also the last American to reach the final, doing so in 2005. While the USA doesn’t have any top-ten ranked players, they do have three in the top 16.

Taylor Fritz, Tommy Paul and Ben Shelton are all expected to do well in August but can one of them be that first home winner in 21 years? Fritz reached his first US Open quarter-final last year and has reached that stage in two Grand Slams in 2024.

Tommy Paul has never made it past the fourth round of the US Open. Perhaps the best hope is Ben Shelton who is only 21 years of age. He made it to the semi-finals last year and could well be a future champion.

Frances Tiafoe is another home hope and he reached the last four in 2022 and was a quarter-finalist last year. Up and coming American players such as Alex Michelsen, Sebastian Korda and Brandon Nakashima could also go well.

Whether one can win the title is doubtful. We are slowly seeing a changing of the guard at the top of the men’s game. Novak Djokovic will do all he can to retain his title but Alcaraz and Sinner will make life very difficult for him in August.