Complete Guide to 2021 US Open Betting

US Open Betting Markets

As with any type of sporting tournament, there are two distinct types of bets that you can place on the US Open. You can place outright bets, which are bets on the tournament as a whole, and you can place match bets, which are bets on the individual matches.

US Open Outright Betting Markets

The US Open has men and women’s tournaments, which means that all the outright markets are available on both. These bets can be placed long before the tournaments begin as well as during it, and the odds will be updated once the tournament begins to reflect how things unfold. Here is a brief description of some of the most popular outright markets.

Tournament Winner

This is the simplest and most popular bet. You are simply betting on a player to win the tournament (men’s or women’s). You can actually back multiple players if you so wish. One thing to keep in mind is that it is best to wait to place this bet as you want to get an idea of your chosen player’s form over the course of the season and also to be sure that they arrive at the US Open free of injuries.

Quarter Winner

This is an easier bet to win than the tournament winner is so the odds will be shorter. However, it can be a huge amount of fun. You are backing a player to win their quarter of the draw, in other words, to reach the semi-final. This means that you need to inspect the tournament draw to see whom the players are facing on the route to the semi-finals and make your judgement accordingly.

To Reach the Final

If there is a player whom you think has great potential, but you are not convinced that they will win the US Open then this is the perfect market. If the player you have backed reaches the final, then you win the bet.

Name the Two Finalists

This is very similar to the previous market, but you are backing two players to reach the final. The odds on this market can be quite generous as it is not always easy to predict. Therefore, if you analyse the field correctly, you could land yourself a big payout.

Planning Your US Open Outright Bets

It helps to be aware of some basic things that when placing outright bets on the US Open. For instance, it is very often won by previous winners. The tournament is extremely gruelling with long matches, meaning that only the top athletes can win it. Therefore, you will notice that it is normally won by players who have won at least one other Grand Slam and the same names keep coming up time and time again.

When picking a winner, you will also want to look out for players who are specialists on hard courts. Hard courts do not favour a specific style of play, unlike grass or clay, because the surface is balanced and somewhere in the middle of the other two in terms of bounce and speed. As a result, the best hard court players tend to be strong in all areas of their game with a real mixture of skills.

You also need to keep in mind the fact that the US Open is the final Grand Slam of the year. This means that players may be coming to it tired after a long season. However, the top players will normally plan their preparation to ensure that they are in top form just when the tournament arrives. You need to judge if the player you are interested in will be at their best when the tournament comes around.

US Open Match Betting Markets

You will see that there are more than 40 different betting markets available for each match of the US Open, covering a huge range of possibilities. If you are new to tennis betting and you would like an explanation of them, then we recommend that you read our Beginner’s Guide to Tennis Betting. There you will find an explanation of how all the different markets work so that you can build the best possible betting strategy.

Here we won’t go through all these markets again, but we will explain the most popular of the US Open betting markets.

Match Result

Also known as moneyline betting, this is the simplest bet you can place on a match and it is the most popular bet. You are simply backing one of the players to win the match. The score is completely irrelevant and as long as your chosen player wins, then you will win the bet.

Handicap Betting

Handicap betting is a way of making betting on the underdog more attractive. The favourite player is given a handicap, and if you back them then it is said that you are betting on them to ‘cover the spread’. For example, you may see Player A -3.5 v Player B +3.5. In this instance, if you back Player A then you will win the bet as long as they win by at least 4 games. If you back player B, then you will win the bet if they win or if they lose by no more than 3 games.

Totals Betting

Totals betting can actually apply to many different aspects of a match. For instance, you could be betting whether the total number of games played will be under or over a particular number. Another example is betting on the total number of sets. For example, you could see under 3.5 sets or over 3.5 sets. In other words, you would bet under if you think the game will be won in straight sets or over if you think that four or five sets will need to be played.

Live Betting

Live betting markets are those that are available while a game is taking place. The odds will be updated in real time and it is up to you to keep a close eye on both the match and the odds to spot good betting opportunities. It can be hugely exciting and is a great way to truly engage with every moment of a match.

Planning Your US Open Match Bets

When looking at match bets, be sure to consider every market carefully. All of them give you the chance to win, so be sure not to dismiss a market out of hand. When it comes to actually placing your bet, there is much that you need to consider.

For example, you will likely look at the head-to-head record of the two players involved. However, you need to go into more detail than simply looking to see which player has won more encounters. You need to also look at the surfaces those games took place on. While looking at the results of matches on different surfaces is not pointless, you will gain a far better insight by looking at those that took place on a hard court. Furthermore, there is not much to be gained by looking at matches that happened a long time ago. Equally important is the type of tournament that matches were in. Grand Slam matches are longer (for men), so ideally you should look at previous Grand Slam meetings between the players on hard courts.

Related to this is the stage of the tournament. Early in the tournament, the players will be fresher. Furthermore, in the very first games, the favourites will often be hoping to conserve their energy and finish matches quickly. This means that they may play more aggressively and take more risks, which means the matches tend to be quite short (which is important if you are interested in handicap betting).

However, in the later stages, the players may begin to feel tired and they are likely to be facing opponents who are more evenly matched. This means that the matches become harder to predict. Therefore, you need to pay attention to how much time the players have spent on court and their schedule of play. You should then be able to judge how tired they are likely to be and whether they will be capable of playing at their best.

As a final note, if you are going to be using live betting markets, then be sure to keep a close eye on the players’ body language. If a player begins to look frazzled or frustrated, then it could be a sign that things are going downhill for them, resulting in more errors. This is the type of situation that you can definitely capitalise on by quickly placing a few bets.