US Open Women’s Singles
Serena Williams and Sloane Stephens are among the favourites to contend for the title in the US Open 2018—and for a good reason.
Home court always counts for something, and while playing in front of an expectant American crowd in Flushing Meadows adds extra pressure, there’s no doubt that both Serena and Stephens are capable of delivering results. Besides, they have won this tournament before.
Sure enough, it won’t be easy for the home heroes. There’s been more parity in the women’s side recently, and more than a handful of players can threaten the dominance of the Americans on their own turf.
Talking Points
In any tournament that Serena joins, she’s always one, if not the main talking point. The 36-year-old is a 23-time Grand Slam winner to start with, and every fan of the sport has their eyes on her as she continues to write women’s tennis history.
Serena is chasing a record-tying 24th Slam trophy which would bring her level with the legendary Margaret Court for the most major singles title. She could also join Court, Evonne Goolagong and Kim Clijsters as the only mothers to win a Grand Slam.
Fortunately for Williams, her route got a little bit easier with the early exit of World No. 1 Simona Halep. The Romanian juggernaut, who won the French Open this year, was drawn in the same bracket as Serena and would have met the American in the fourth round.
Nonetheless, Halep succumbed to unseeded Kaia Kanepi in straight sets, in what could already be said as one of the major US Open 2018 highlights.
Of course, that’s only one main contender down, but that would certainly benefit Serena in the gruelling two-week affair.
On the other hand, Stephens will also be hoping to get great results in the tournament, having won the title in last year’s edition.
The 25-year-old star surprised everyone with her 2017 US Open victory when she beat the highly favoured Madison Keys. She was ranked 83rd that time and was as low as 934th in the previous month, but she defied the odds to win and establish herself as a true contender.
Now, Stephens is the World No.3 and unlike last year, there are high expectations for her to perform and defend her title. She hasn’t won any Grand Slam this 2018, but she did reach the final of the French Open before losing to Halep.
She’s also less than three weeks off the Rogers Cup final in Montreal where she lost to, no other than, Halep. And with the Romanian top seed gone, Stephens has all the chance to make it deep and, perhaps, stage another title fight.
As mentioned, the women’s competition is pretty balanced and there are a number of players who are more than capable of fighting for the US Open crown.
Angelique Kerber has won here before, and after her embarrassing first-round exit in the competition last campaign, she’s undoubtedly determined to make it up this year.
There’s also World no.2 Caroline Wozniacki whose veteran chops and big-stage experience should help her in her quest for her first major title on American soil. She has reached the final of the competition in 2009 and 2014; and while she suffered her worst exit in the competition last year, she proved in Australia earlier in the season that she still has what it takes to win the majors.
Other top-10 players, particularly Caroline Garcia, Elina Svitolina, Petra Kvitova, are ones to watch as well. Moreover, fans shouldn’t count out rising stars such as Naomi Osaka, Sofia Kenin, Daria Kasatkina and Viktoria Kuzmova who could all be the success stories of the 2018 US Open.
History
Over the past 10 years, Serena has won the US Open four times. She bagged it in 2008 and dominated the tournament from 2012 to 2014, winning three straight titles.
Unfortunately, she hasn’t won the competition since getting her sixth trophy in the tournament four years ago. During that span, three different players won the title, most notably Flavia Pennetta who defeated Roberta Vinci—the woman who stopped Williams in the semis to deny her a Grand Slam of all four majors.
Kerber won the title in 2016, beating Karolina Pliskova who also overcame Serena in the semis to reach that stage. Stephens, on the other hand, claimed the trophy last year, with Serena missing the competition due to her pregnancy.
What are the odds?
The SBOBET tennis odds on US Open 2018 betting have Serena as the overwhelming favourite at 4.00. Kerber is at 7.00, while Stephens is not too far behind at 7.50.
The three are the runaway leaders, with our odds giving the likes of Muguruza, Kvitova, Svitolina an outside title chance at 15.00.
Surprisingly, Wozniacki isn’t favoured to claim the crown at odds of 26.00. For what it’s worth, the World No.2 is behind World No.11 Kasatkina (at 21.00) and is given the same odds as World No.79 Victoria Azarenka.
Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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