US Open Men's Singles Betting Tips: Back Zverev to upset the big three in New York

Andy Schooler previews the 2024 US Open men’s singles for which there are plenty of doubts surrounding the market leaders…

There are no easy answers in the US Open men’s betting market in 2024.

The top three in it have claimed all the major prizes this season – Jannik Sinner making his big breakthrough at the Australian Open, Carlos Alcaraz winning the French Open and Wimbledon, and Novak Djokovic striking gold at the recent Olympic Games.

Yet it’s not hard to make cases against the star trio.

Favourite Alcaraz won here in 2022 but having made the finals of the French Open, Wimbledon and the Olympics, will he be fatigued heading into the last Grand Slam event of the season, one usually played in pretty tough conditions?

Best-of-five tennis at this time of the year can be hard on the body and it’s no coincidence that the traditional ‘Big Four’ were most vulnerable at this event in their 20-year period of domination.

Alcaraz lost on his return to the hardcourts in Cincinnati, beaten by Gael Monfils, and he makes little appeal at 2.88.

Sinner battled his way to victory in Cincinnati but the world number one was clearly still troubled by a long-standing hip problem and that has to be a worry for anyone backing him in New York where he’ll be expected to play for four hours at some stage.

It obviously wasn’t an insurmountable problem in Ohio but this will be different – and Sinner knows it, speaking openly about his need to be “more in shape” after his narrow semi-final win over Alex Zverev.

I can’t be backing him in the circumstances.

For me, Djokovic has strong claims – if he turns up playing like he did at the Olympics.

However, the clue is in the word ‘if’.

By winning gold, the Serb completed the full set of prizes in the sport and there has to be a concern about motivation levels – that was certainly an issue after Djokovic completed the career Grand Slam at Roland Garros in 2016.

That said, he does have the possibility of setting a new all-time record of 25 Grand Slam singles titles so perhaps that will drive him on.

Essentially, it’s difficult to be too enthused by the market leaders so I prefer to take a chance on Alex Zverev.

He famously failed to win the 2020 final here from two sets up, eventually losing to Dominic Thiem having got within two points of a maiden Grand Slam title.

Four years on, he’s still seeking that first major but he consistently reaches the latter stages of the Slams – he’s gone QF-SF-RU on his last three visits to New York – and was a whisker away from beating Sinner in Cincinnati.

Conditions were quick there and are expected to be similar at Flushing Meadows which will assist the big Zverev serve.

I think the German, who will be seeded fourth, is an interesting price at 16.

For those seeking big odds, you could do worse than Lorenzo Musetti.

He’s enjoyed a fine season and while he’d probably prefer a slower surface, the Italian did make the semis at Wimbledon.

He’s since won bronze at the Olympics (where he beat Zverev) and should arrive here with plenty of confidence.

Definitely has the potential to outperform odds of 90.

Recommended Bets:

Back Alex Zverev @ 16
Lay Jannik Sinner @ 4.3
Back Lorenzo Musetti @ 90