Despite his stunning early exit from the men’s tennis competition at the Rio Olympics, Novak Djokovic is listed as the even-money favourite to successfully defend his U.S. Open title at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
Djokovic’s defeat in Rio at the hands of Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro marked his first opening-round loss since 2009, when he made an early departure from the Brisbane International after falling to little-known Latvian Ernests Gulbis.
Despite his struggles at the Olympics, though, Djokovic is once again the man to beat at next week’s 136th U.S. Open in Flushing Meadows, NY. The world’s top-ranked men’s tennis player has reached the U.S. Open final in six of the past nine years, twice capturing the trophy.
Djokovic’s closest competition on the U.S. Open odds comes from the man who beat him in the 2012 final, Andy Murray, who sits at +180.
Murray is coming off his second career Olympic gold medal victory, topping the podium after winning gold in London four years ago. The 29-year-old Scotsman has also reached the final in each of this year’s grand slam events, topping Canadian Milos Raonic with a straight sets win at Wimbledon, but falling to Djokovic at both the Australian Open and French Open.
Raonic, meanwhile, sits back of the favourites at +1200 odds, just ahead of del Potro, who joins Stan Wawrinka at +1600, while two-time U.S. Open champion Rafael Nadal sits alongside Marin Cilic at +2000.
On the women’s side, six-time U.S. Open winner Serena Williams leads the way as a strong +120 betting favourite. Like Djokovic, Williams is coming off a disappointing performance at the Olympics, where she was bounced in the third round by Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina.
Williams won back-to-back U.S. Open titles in 2013 and 2014, and posted four straight grand slam wins starting with the 2014 U.S. Open, but failed to get past the semi-finals at last year’s tournament.
The 34-year-old also reached the final in each of this year’s grand slam events but earned the win just once, knocking off Angelique Kerber in straight sets at Wimbledon, avenging her loss to the German earlier this year in Melbourne.
Kerber trails Williams at +800 on those tennis betting lines, where she is joined by Garbine Muguruza, who defeated Williams in this year’s final at Roland Garros, and Simona Halep, who continues the search for her first grand slam crown. Canadian Eugenie Bouchard trails at a distant +4000.
