US Open Outright Preview – Three picks for the men and women’s tournament

The final Grand Slam of the 2024 season comes at the US Open, where Carlos Alcaraz will be chasing a third major title on the spin following his triumphs at the French Open and Wimbledon.

Novak Djokovic, a record-breaking 24-time Grand Slam champion, will be bidding to make it a successful title defence at Flushing Meadows and his confidence should be at a maximum after he won the Gold medal at the Olympics earlier this month.

Things always prove less straightforward in the women’s event with home favourite Coco Gauff the defending champion.

However, Naomi Osaka is the only dual champion since the legendary Serena Williams lifted her sixth US Open title in 2014 and Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina will all believe that they have excellent credentials of signing off the season in style.

Setting The Scene

Djokovic has been all the rage in the US Open title betting following the revealing of the draw which has seen world number one Jannik Sinner, Alcaraz and last season’s runner-up Daniil Medvedev all drawn in the top half.

Many may feel that 37-year-old Djokovic has a routine run to the final but only four of his 24 Grand Slam titles have been recorded in New York and on the back of a long season, strange results can occur.

Following her success in Cincinnati last week, Sabalenka heads the betting in the women’s event and, with defending champion Gauff struggling to find her best form, she looks the player to beat in the bottom half.

Swiatek, champion in 2022, leads the women’s seedings but teenage talent Mirra Andreeva, American ace Jessica Pegula, in-form Italian Jasmine Paolini and former Wimbledon winner Rybakina are all viable dangers in the top half of the draw.

Tip 1: Carlos Alcaraz to win the men’s US Open @ 2/1 with bet365

Being defending champion, a winner last time out at the Olympic Games in Paris and avoiding his three chief title rivals until the final would make Djokovic appeal to many.

However, he has now found his place at the head of the betting and he is still going to have to face some tough challenges along the way, which means the value may now lie with Alcaraz.

The Spanish sensation has won four of his last seven Grand Slam appearances, including the last two major tournaments, and he was a champion at Flushing Meadows in 2022.

The 21-year-old has shown time and time again that he can peak for the showpiece events and that may be the case once more after his early exit in Cincinnati, something which may not be as concerning as it first appears.

Alcaraz lost his opening match there to Gael Monfils but before winning at Wimbledon he suffered a last-16 exit against Jack Draper at Queen’s Club and he was also a quarter-final casualty against Andrey Rublev in Madrid in his final event before taking the French Open title. 

The Spaniard will only have to face one of Sinner or Medvedev before the final and his most strenuous route before then would feature clashes with Jack Draper, Sebastian Korda and Hubert Hurkacz, something he should pass with flying colours.

Tip 2: Qinwen Zheng to win women’s US Open each-way @ 33/1 with bet365

While a compelling case can be made for only a handful of players in the men’s draw, the women’s heat looks wide open and seventh seed Qinwen Zheng could outrun her odds.

The Chinese star won the Gold medal at the Olympics earlier this month and that may be why she put up a poor showing in Cincinnati.

However, the 21-year-old was runner-up at the Australian Open in January while she was a quarter-finalist here in New York last season, despite that being only her second ever tournament appearance. It may not be long before she gets a major crown under her belt.

Tip 3: Paula Badosa to win women’s US Open each-way @ 33/1 with bet365

Landing in the third quarter alongside an out-of-sorts Gauff doesn’t look a bad place to be, so another longshot worth considering may be the rejuvenated Paula Badosa.

The Spaniard is starting to show some of the form that saw her rise to world number two in April 2022 and, still only 26 years of age, there is plenty of time for her to return to that level.

Badosa was a semi-finalist in Cincinnati last time out while at the beginning of the month she claimed her first title in over two years in Washington, which is some of the best recent form on offer.