Given we are now well into the 21st century, it is amazing how much sport seems to be affected by the changing seasons. In a consumer-led society such as ours, it is amazing that television broadcasters don’t demand that sports seasons should be elongated so that there is never a gap in the schedule. However, it appears that some traditions will always stay the same.
The NFL season runs from September to February. Doesn’t matter that this is during winter when sometimes the ground is frozen and it is below
0 degrees. Of course not, it’s the tradition. Similarly, the
MLB runs from April to October, meaning there are six whole months when fans can’t get their Baseball fix. It seems like madness to many people, but it appears that this is the way it is always going to be.
Thankfully for us sports fanatics, Tennis seems to buck the trend and stages its major tournaments throughout the year, so we are never too far away from one of the Grand Slams. The big four competitions that Tennis fans are always the most excited about are the Australian Open (held in January) the French Open (which happens in May) Wimbledon (held in late June) and the US Open (an event that takes place in September).
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always have the betting odds for these tournaments, so fans of betting on Tennis are always looking out to see what odds they have for their favourite Tennis stars. Of course, each tournament essentially acts as two in one, as we get to see both the best men and the best women in the game fighting it out, to see who will be crowned champion. Let’s have a look at the form of some of the world’s top players, to see if we can decide who might be crowned
US Open champions this year.
Novak looks like the one to beat
The past 15 years in men’s tennis has been dominated by three of the all-time greats; Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic. While a few other stars have won Grand Slams in that time, such as Andy Murray (two Wimbledon titles and a US Open win) and Stan Wawrinka (one Australian Open, one French Open and one US Open) it has been these three players who have been controlling things for almost as long as anyone can remember. Most people would agree that they are three of the greatest men’s Tennis players of all time.
They all currently sit on 20 Grand Slam titles each. Of the three, it appears the Serbian Djokovic is the most likely to add this year’s US Open to his trophy case, mainly as both Nadal and Federer have pulled out of the competition due to injury. Having been at the top of the game for so long, it now does look likely that neither will ever be able to return to their previous heights, which is a real shame, as they have dazzled the fans with some amazing matches for such a long time.
So with Nadal and Federer out the way, it looks all set for Djokovic to move to 21 career Grand Slams, the first man to do so. Will the likes of Felix Auger Aliassime, Alexander Zverev or Matteo Berrettini be able to stop him? It appears unlikely, but as with all sports, stranger things have happened.
Who will seize the moment in the Women’s game?
Women’s Tennis has had one dominant player for the best part of 20 years; Serena Williams. She is certainly the greatest modern Tennis player of all time, even if she is still technically one title behind Margaret Court, who has 24 major slams to Serena’s 23. Unfortunately, fans will not be able to watch Serena at this year’s US Open, as she is another major star who is suffering from injury, so won’t be able to compete. At 39, Serena probably does not have long left in her illustrious career, so it will be exciting to see if another player can step up to the table, and dominate the game as Serena has.
Aryna Sabalenka, a 23-year-old from Belarus, has risen to number two in the women’s singles rankings. She hasn’t won a singles Grand Slam yet but does have two in doubles. After reaching the Semi-Finals at Wimbledon earlier this year, hopes will be high for her to go all the way at the US Open.
Another contender could well be Karolína Plíšková. She is a former world number one and has made it to the US Open final before, where she lost in three sets to Angelique Keber back in 2016. Plíšková made it to the Wimbledon final this year, so she certainly has good form coming into the Flushing Meadows.
