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This year’s Women’s US Open is more open than it has been in a number of years due to the withdrawal of Serena Williams and Justine Henin due to injuries.
This has opened the door to a potential first time winner in the competition. The biggest contender who has not yet won a Grand Slam is 20 year old Danish player Caroline Wozniacki.
However there are always favourites in the tournament.
As the final Grand Slam of the year, the US Open always attracts a lot of attention and US Open bets are a must! After beating Maria Sharapova in the Cincinnati final on the ATP tour, Kim Clijsters is now the favourite (5.5 @ Betfair). Sharapova remains second favourite (6.2) to Clijsters, who won the tournament in 2009.
Before 2005 Sharapova had never won a match against Clijsters who was 4-0 up, but in the following year she almost levelled that head-to-head bringing it back to 4-3. Both players then had a couple of years out of the top level. Clijsters made her comeback with a win in the 2009 US Open, but had not shown much promise before that. This could suggest that Sharapova is on a bigger come-back. The 3 victories over Clijsters in 2006 showed that she had worked out her game and was able to beat her consistently. Sharapova is now gradually recovering some form, and demonstrated this playing Serena Williams at Wimbledon this year. Although she lost, she showed glimpses of the excellent form she once had.
Although Clijsters beat Sharapova in the Western & Southern Financial Grp Womens Open, Clijsters’ nemesis Vera Zvonareva came back to beat her in the Rogers Cup after previously beating her on the way to the Wimbledon final as well. Vera Zvonareva (@ 23.0) plays her best tennis on the hard courts, so the US Open will suit her style.
As previously stated, world number two Caroline Wozniacki who beat Zvonareva at the Rogers cup final is another one to watch. She suffered from an ankle injury during the French Open and Wimbledon, but is now back on track. She got to the final in the 2009 US Open, but can she turn it into a win this year? At 9.0 (Betfair) it’s worth a punt.
This year at the US Open, apart from Sharapova and Clijsters, the only other previous Grand Slam winners are Ana Ivanovic, Venus Williams, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Francesca Schiavone. All are either far off their previous best form or will struggle on the faster hard court surfaces. If Sharapova and Clijsters don’t dominate the tournament, we could well see a first time Grand Slam winner at the US Open.
