Source: Marin Cilic via Facebook
A couple of years ago, you’d have been given very long odds for Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer to be the three favourites for the last Grand Slam of 2018, and yet here we are. Federer looked to be on the verge of a graceful decline, Nadal could have been forgiven for only challenging on clay and Djokovic’s injury problems reduced him to a shadow of his best. Yet the three legendary players defied expectations in the custom of the rest of their careers. With this magic trio tying up the top of the market, there is value below in players slightly underappreciated as a result of the star power of the favourites.
The US Open is in a unique position of the Grand Slams. Wimbledon and the Australian Open have been charitably shared among the leading players, while Nadal has been less generous with the French Open. The only two active players on the ATP tour with a Grand Slam to their name were made champions at the US Open. Juan Martin Del Potro looked on the verge of tour dominance when he stormed to the 2009 trophy, with only injury keeping the Tower of Tandil at one Slam title. Marin Cilic is the other, and because he has followed up this championship with regular runs to the business end of Grand Slams he represents interesting value at this year’s US Open.
Cilic can be found at a price of 16/1 at williamhill.com, making him the seventh favourite to strike gold at Flushing Meadows. Cilic can have no qualms about being behind the three favourites, although the attraction of getting behind Djokovic, Federer or Nadal is outweighed by the short price and minor doubts about their title-winning credentials. Djokovic won at Wimbledon but is still regaining full fitness, Federer notably didn’t win at Wimbledon while Nadal has a comparative weakness on hard courts despite being the reigning champion.
Source: Marin Cilic via Facebook
Cilic followed up his impressive 2014 title, in which he powered past Federer in straight sets and kept his nerve to beat Kei Nishikori in a battle of debut finalists, with a semi-final showing in the following year. In more recent times, the 29-year-old star has continued to shine at Slams. Cilic suffered a comprehensive loss to Federer in the 2017 Wimbledon final, but was able to demonstrate his true quality in this year’s Australian Open final as he pushed the Swiss great to a fifth set. Cilic may have fallen short, but in that final, he reiterated his Slam-winning credentials.
The other players shorter in price than Cilic are far less attractive than the Croatian. 9/1 for Alexander Zverev is unappealing for a player without a significant Slam victory to his name, while Andy Murray is incredibly unlikely to recapture his best in quick enough time to justify the same price. A peak Del Potro is an irresistible force, but 12/1 doesn’t sufficiently account for the inevitable fitness concerns that come with maintaining peak level across a fortnight. In terms of longer odds, 33/1 for Kevin Anderson and 40/1 for John Isner are somewhat tempting, although Anderson has failed to win a set in his two Slam finals and Isner is yet to make a mark at the US Open despite a long career. The US Open may have form in recent years for giving us new first-time winners of a Grand Slam, but the time has come for Cilic to add to his trophy collection.
🎾 Tennis Tips UK Membership: Why Join?
Over the years our team have analysed countless tennis tipster services - we offer all those that impress against our strict criteria a place in our program. Essentially we act as a middle man. Members subscribe to receive their email tips and we share the subscription revenue with those tipsters that deliver the highest profit each month for subscribers. That way members get to benefit from multiple vetted tipsters with a single subscription plan. This service is called the ‘VIP Club’ and costs $99.99 per month.
- Receive email tips stating the advised match, specific bet and stake size
- Benefit from the insight of the best tipsters we’ve sourced since 2013
- Cancel anytime - there are no contracts or commitments.
- Average of 2-3 bets per week sent direct to your inbox
- Member staking $10 per unit would have profited $7540
Alternative: Free Membership Plan
We are constantly trying to gather feedback of tipster services across the web. If you are willing to sign up for one of these and provide some basic feedback about what you liked and/or disliked then we’ll give you VIP Club membership for free instead of the usual $99.99 charge.
How to Redeem: Valid December 2023
1.) Sign up for a £1.00 trial of our current tipster service under review (Betting Gods Premium)
2.) Send us a message confirming the email address you signed up with. By using the link above we can track your registration and ensure all feedback gathered is from genuine customers of the service.
3.) You’ll be added to the VIP Club mailing list. Please forward any feedback you have by replying to email messages containing the tips. Please check your junk folder. You are free to cancel at any time.
