There are certain things in tennis that are
fairly easy to predict. Of those things, tennis bettors can predict that Serena Williams will be a force to reckon with in this year's US Open. Find out who the tennis odds makers are expecting to take the women's leg of the tournament.
At least three of the 'big four' on the
men's tour will make the semi-finals of every Grand Slam event and the winner
will either be Djokovic, Nadal or Federer. It's basically a forgone conclusion.
Women will continue to grunt and shriek
their way through matches from now until eternity, so there seems little point
in the authorities wasting their time trying to come up with ways to end it.
John Isner will forever be described as the
'Big Serving American'.
But when it comes to picking a female winner
for the US Open in the Big Apple in six weeks' time, predictions become
decidedly trickier.
Did you know that the last seven Grand Slam
winners on the women's tour have all been different? On the men's side, just
three men have shared the last seven major titles and before Federer won at Wimbledon a fortnight ago, there were only two names
sharing the previous nine slams between them.
The complete lack of dominance in the
women's game began when Kim Clijsters won the last of her four Grand Slams in Australia at
the start of 2011. Following that the big titles were won by, Li Na (French
2011), Petra Kvitova (Wimbledon 2011), Sam
Stosur (US, 2011), Victoria Azarenka, (Australia 2012), Maria Sharapova,
(French 2012) and Serena Williams, (Wimbledon 2012).
So with that in mind, who is the most
likely name to win the next of the women's Slams in New York?
If you suspect that the run of different
names may continue, it really is starting to become a struggle finding a new
name who can potentially life the trophy. The most likely way of the run
continuing would appear to be via a success for Kim Clijsters, which would keep
us where we currently are in terms of seven different winners across the last
seven Slams.
Clijsters can be backed at around 25/1 for
victory in New York
and as it looks like it could well be her last Slam before she retires,
(again), you could do far worse than back the Belgian for this one.
For me, there are only two or three other
women who are capable of collecting their first Slam trophy this September.
Caroline Wozniacki was World No.1 for so
long without ever having picked up one of the top prizes. She has now moved out
of the limelight a little and does love the hard courts, so at 66/1, you could
do a lot worse in terms of value.
German, Angelique Kerber is having a hugely
successful year and will be coming into this one off the back of a successful
French Open and a semi-final appearance at Wimbledon.
If she can continue her progress across the summer, Kerber will have a chance
in New York.
The most likely new name on the trophy
would be that of Wimbledon finalist, Agnieszka
Radwanska. She's actually the fourth favourite to win this event and the only
name in the top 8 who hasn't previously collected a Slam. You can back
Radwanska at around 22/1.
Of course, in all likelihood the run will
finally come to an end and it will be one of the current members of the Magnificent
Seven who go on to claim another Slam.
But who would be favourite from that list?
Serena Williams is the clear leader with
the tennis bookmakers and can be backed at 5/2 for further success. She knows
she should have won in New York last year but
having finally notched up another Slam success at Wimbledon,
the 30-year-old will be highly confident ahead of this one.
Maria Sharapova looked to be back to her
best in winning the French and enjoying a fantastic clay court season, but a
disappointing fourth round defeat at Wimbledon
will have dented her confidence.
Victoria Azarenka enjoyed a fabulous start
to the season on hard courts and will be itching to get back to them as soon as
possible. She'll have her chances in New
York but could she really overcome Serena in her home
Slam?
Looking at Serena's record in recent Slams,
if she does come unstuck, it always seems to be against lesser known opponents.
It's almost as if she is caught with her guard down and maybe a bit of
complacency or possibly nerves creep in.
But when Serena comes up against the other
big names on the tour, she generally destroys them. Just look at how she
overcame an in-form Kvitova in the Wimbledon
quarter-finals.
For me, the long run of different names
winning women's Grand Slam events is going to come to an end in New York, and it will
come to an end with back-to-back successes for Serena Williams.