US Open Men’s Singles
Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray. When was the last time that we mention the name of these players in the same line?
Indeed, it’s been more than a year since tennis fans around the world last saw the legendary “Big Four” in the same tournament. No thanks to injuries and, of course, father time, watching the four compete for one title gets rarer and rarer every season.
However, the US Open 2018 offers fans a massive treat with the presence of the four players who used to claim the top spots of the men’s ranking and even compete against each other for the World No.1 title.
Talking Points
The tournament is the first time since last year’s Wimbledon that the “Big Four” are playing on the same court. Nonetheless, that’s not the only storyline that fans have to watch out regarding them.
Interestingly, Federer, Nadal and Djokovic have split this year’s Slam title among themselves. The last time it happened? Way back in 2012!
Federer claimed the Australian Open earlier this year, taking down Marin Cilic in a five-set thriller as he became the first man to win 20 major singles titles. King Rog has been on a tear since then, reaching the finals of Indian Wells, Stuttgart, Halle and Cincinnati and winning a title in Rotterdam.
The Fed Express sat out the whole clay season, but that seemed to work in his favour as he has reached the quarter-finals of all but one of the tournaments he joined this year.
Nadal, for his part, lived up to his “King of the Clay” title and dominated the clay-court season. He won back-to-back titles in Monte-Carlo and Barcelona en route to Roland Garros La Undecima. Sure enough, the only dirt on his nearly flawless clay run was his quarter-final exit in Madrid.
Rafa reached the Wimbledon semi-final and recently proved that he’s also one to fear on hard court after claiming the Rogers Cup title in Toronto.
On the other hand, Djokovic seems to have finally returned to form after an abysmal start to the season that saw him fail to reach the last eight of the first six competitions. He made it to the semis of the Italian Open and has been on a roll since, eventually winning the Wimbledon crown over Kevin Anderson.
Djokovic is poised for another major title challenge as well, especially after his recent win in Cincinnati, in the build-up of the US Open.
But where does Murray come in?
The former World No.1 struggled to recover from a hip injury which cut his season short in 2017. He has dropped to 382nd in the rankings and hasn’t won any title this year. Nevertheless, he made a solid return to the Grand Slam by winning his US Open Round of 128 match against Australian James Duckworth.
While Murray is a long-shot to win the title, it’s fascinating to note that in 2012—the year that Federer, Nadal and Djokovic split the other Slams—the Scot star took the US crown and spoiled the fight of the three for superiority.
Murray, at his best, is capable of defeating anyone; and if he finds his rhythm and pulls off what seems to be an improbable task right now, that will certainly be the biggest US Open 2018 news.
Highly seeded stars Juan Martin del Potro—semi-finalist in the French Open and quarter-finalist in Wimbledon—and Alexander Zeverev, who won in Madrid and Washington, will undoubtedly pose some challenge. There are also the likes of Marin Cilic and Stan Wawrinka, winners of the 2014 and 2016 editions respectively.
But hey, are we really betting against the Big Four…or even against Djokovic, Nadal and Federer?
History
The Big Four have been unarguably the most dominant quartet in tennis history. However, they are often tested in the US Open.
Since 2005, the members of the Big Four have won all but two of the other Grand Slam competitions, with Wawrinka making his case for a “Fab Five” with his 2014 Australian Open win and 2015 French Open domination.
In the US Open, though, non-Big Four players have taken the title three times over the same 13-year span. As cited earlier, Cilic got it in 2014, Wawrinka in 2016 and Del Potro all the way back to 2009.
Nadal won the US major last year though, so the Big Four got that going for them.
What are the odds?
Djokovic is in great form, so it’s no wonder why the US Open 2018 betting odds at SBOBET have him as the no.1 player—at 2.00—to take home the trophy.
Nadal and Federer are not too far behind though, with Rafa at 3.00 and Federer at 5.00. Del Potro, meanwhile, is at 5.50.
Cilic and Zverev are quite close too, but they might need to impress more to increase their odds of 9.00 and 10.00 respectively.
Murray may be struggling, but he still has plenty of believers. The 31-year-old star is at 26.00 to win it all, the same as World No.5 Kevin Anderson and ahead of No.9 Dominic Thiem (51.00), No.10 David Goffin (81.00) and No.11 John Isner (51.00).
Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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