The US Open kicks off today as Djokovic looks to make tennis history

History in the Making

Novak Djokovic is rarely in the conversation for Most Dominant Athlete, but his numbers are incredible

• 9x Australian Open Winner

• 2x French Open Winner

• 6x Wimbledon Winner

• 3x US Open Winner

• Career Record: 972-197

• 85 Career Titles, 5th most in the Open Era

This US Open has history written all over it. Djokovic has won all three Slams this season and is looking to complete the Calendar Slam for the first time since 1969 (Rod Laver). With Federer and Nadal nursing injuries, take a look at Novak’s most realistic challengers

• Novak Djokovic: -195 (bet $195, win $100)

• Daniil Medvedev: +330 (bet $100, win $330)

• Alexander Zverev: +500

• Stefanos Tsitsipas: +700

All three of Novak’s top challengers have come close to capturing their first title. Djokovic beat Tsitsipas in the 2021 French Open finals and Medvedev in the 2021 Australian Open finals. Zverev has been there as well, as he lost to Dominic Thiem in last year’s US Open finals

Inexperienced Draw

Injuries have derailed the 2021 campaigns of some of the top Men’s tennis players. Dominic Thiem is out with a wrist injury, while Nadal and Federer have been dealing with lingering knee and foot problems

With those three out, there’s actually only two players in the draw outside of Djokovic who have ever won a major

• Marin Cilic: 2014 US Open winner, currently ranked No. 30

• Andy Murray: 2012 US Open winner, 2013 & 2016 Wimbledon winner, currently ranked No. 112

The next generation of tennis stars have started to make some noise over the last two years, but an inexperienced field favors Novak, who is no stranger to five-set matches, incredible heat and all other factors that come into play when going for a major title

The Best of the Rest

Tennis majors are kind of like March Madness. It’s fun to throw some bets on the underdog, see how the first few games go, and then decide if you want to hedge out when the little guy ultimately runs into a top dog

Here’s a few names to keep an eye on with their odds. Some are rising stars a few years away from their time, while others are fan favorites

Rising Stars

• Jannik Sinner: +2500, 20 y/o, ranked No. 13

• Andrey Rublev: +2500, 23 y/o, ranked No. 5

• Denis Shapovalov: +4000, 22 y/o, ranked No. 7

• Casper Ruud: +6600, 22 y/o, ranked No. 8

• Hubert Hurkacz: +8000, 24 y/o, ranked No. 10

• Felix Auger Aliassime: +10,000, 21 y/o, ranked No. 12

Fan Favorites

• John Isner: +10,000

• Diego Schwartzman: +12,500

• Andy Murray & Nick Kyrgios: +20,000

• Frances Tiafoe, Jo-Wilfred Tsonga, Gael Monfils, Sam Querrey: +22,500

Major Tracker

As a reminder, the Big Three all currently have 20 Major wins, the most of all time. Rewind to 2018, and the race was really just between Federer and Nadal. However, Djokovic has won 8 of the last 12 Majors to close the gap in a blink of an eye

• Nadal’s last win: October of 2020

• Federer’s last win: January of 2018

With Federer and Nadal out, Novak has a chance to grab sole possession of the biggest honor in the sport of Tennis

Who is your US Open sleeper? I’ll give you a hint, mine is Casper Ruud 🇳🇴