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Andy Murray carries British tennis hopes again at the US Open.
Having wiped the floor with Feliciano Lopez, Murray cannot let complacency slip into his game when he takes on America’s rising tennis sensation, Donald Young in the fourth round of the US Open on Tuesday.
Murray will be looking to avenge the defeat he suffered at the hands of the 22-year-old from Chicago, earlier this year.
Although the fiery Scot cruised to a straight sets victory over Lopez, memories of Young doing just that to him at Indian Wells back in March will still be very sore.
Young is considered one of the hottest properties outside of the world’s top 50 tennis players, and despite his number 84 ranking and wildcard qualification, he will provide a much sterner test to Murray’s title credentials than the number 26, Lopez.
And the 24-year-old is aware of the threat of Young, who overcame Argentina’s Juan Ignacio Chela in the previous round.
“He’s not an easy guy to play against,” Murray said. “Like the second set he had a few chances – I had quite a few chances. He makes it very difficult for guys because comes up with big serves.
“He serves and volleys sometimes. He does make quite a bit of mistakes at times. But he just plays so different to anyone else nowadays.
“I’ve always quite enjoyed playing against guys that have come forward against me. But I think for a lot of other players it’s different ’cause you don’t see it very often.”
Of course, Murray goes into this game playing some of his best tennis this year. Last month he defeated world number one, Novak Djokovic in the final of the Cincinnati Masters, and will be hoping to keep up his hard court form.
Although Murray is yet to win a major during his career so far, his best chances have come on hard courts. In 2008, he reached the final of the US Open, but was beaten in straight sets by Roger Federer.
Should Murray beat Young, it will see him advance to the quarter final stage of the competition again, where he could face either John Isner or Gilles Simon. But the prospect of meeting Rafa Nadal in the semi-final will be the most daunting.
Match Odds
Bookmakers clearly give more weight to the 80 ranking positions between Murray and Young, than the duo’s head-to-head history.
Of course, the fact that Murray was beaten by Young back in March will undoubtedly spur him on to show no mercy to his plucky opponent.
Because of that, bookies make Murray the undisputed, odds on favourite to advance to the quarter finals, at odds of 1.06 (1/16) @ Bet365.
Young, meanwhile, is considered the big outsider in this particular clash, with odds of 10.00 (9/1) on him emerging victorious available.
Total Sets
Punters clearly do not expect Murray to hang around long for this game. Having dispatched Lopez in just three sets, odds of 1.50 (1/2) are being offered for the game to last that long against Young.
But if you fancy Young to put up more of a fight, and claim one set, odds of 3.60 (13/5) are available with @ Bet365 for the game to go four sets.
Indeed, if the game were to go to five sets, it could mean one of two things. Either Young has sprung an upset, or he has only been dragged out of the competition kicking and screaming. The price of the game lasting that long is 6.50 (11/2).
Set Scores
If bookmakers believe the game is only likely to last three sets, it is unlikely that they see Young coming out on top.
Because of this, the odds of Murray completing a straight sets victory are 1.44 (4/9) @ VC Bet, while 3-0 to Young is long odds at 34.00 (33/1).
Recommend bet
Despite Murray being the big, big favourite, the most tempting bet in this game, without doubt, has to be for a Young win.
Young is 21.00 (20/1) to beat Murray over five sets, 3-2. Having beaten the British number one already this year, he will know he has what it takes to win. It will be a tough as, however, with Murray likely to show no mercy if he is on his game.
The maths is simple – if you happen to have a spare £1 in your back pocket, perhaps it might be worth placing that on such a result with potential returns of £20.
