US OPEN 2009 - Men's Singles

The US Open 2009 is taking place at the USTA Billie jean King Tennis Centre situated at Flushing Meadow, New York from 31st August - 13th September.

Last year's winner, Roger Federer, is the outright favourite in the betting -but British hope Andy Murray is snapping away at his heels, trying to capture his first major title.

Sporting Index Mens Singles Guide:Winner = 60pts, Runner Up = 40pts,
Semi Final = 20pts,Quarter Final = 10pts, Last 16 = 5pts, All Others = 0
*Table updated at 28/8/09

Andy Murray -Can He Win His First Major?
Whilst we all hope that Murray can fulfill his undoubted potential and win a major, the Great British public often have a tendency to back their own into far too short a price.

The seeding commitee has placed him at number two -which would give his followers a profit of 12 points -but he may well have to beat both Del Potro and Nadal to set up a final with a certain Roger Federer!

So just what are the positives and negatives for the Scot...

Positives (+)
Fitness - Over the last year Murray has worked on this part of his game more than any other. Back in 2006, there were numerous calls for him to improve his physical conditioning after he complined of fatigue. If you saw the recent game against Nadal in Dubai, it was the Spaniard that was blowing hardest after the long rallies. He was struggling a little with his back in Qatar, but that may have more to do with playing 8 matches in 11 days.

Attitude - Both his on-court ad off-court demeanour have improved in tandem with his results, maybe ths is because he is not as frustrated by his play?
We often forget that the young Scot is only 21 and that he has been a top-ten player for over 18 months now. He may have developed at a slightly slower pace than close rivals Nadal & Djokovic, but he is now close to matching and maybe even surpassing them.

Court Craft - Murray has admitted that he doesn't have the power of some of those on tour, so he has to use guile rather than brute strength. This means employing the sliced backhand, rather than the over-used drop shot that drew criticism from the likes of John McEnroe. He seems to be learning to use it more sparingly and also how to construct points that play on his opponents' weaknesses.

Negatives (-)
Injuries - In last year's run-up to Wimbledon, Murray got the tag of being injury-prone -by seeming to pull out with the slightest niggle. There are doubts over both his back and ankle, and playing on hard courts does nothing to help.
Added to this is the possibility of five set matches on consecutive days -this gives little chance for a bad back to heal.

Service - Whilst it certainly has improved, his service can still be a weak spot for Murray -more so the second serve which can allow a great returner to dictate the point from the beginning.

Lack Of A Big Shot -Although he stands at six feet three inches and weighs in at around 175 lbs (80 kg), by no means is he a 'power' hitter -in spite of taking great delight in showing us his muscles at Wimbledon last year!
You really don't see him hit that many outright winners -more often he grinds his opponents down and forces mistakes (a crueller person might call him a hacker...).

Some interesting tennis links:

The Tennis Data Website - ATP Tennis Results and Betting Odds data for tennis betting system development

If you are betting on a match then it is imperative to follow it closely -especially if you are playing on the points sumpremacy or total points in the match. These are very volatile and can change massively on a single break point -because this may mean the difference of the players playing an extra set (between 40-50 points).

The best way to follow the action if you haven't got access to a tv is with a live score website, the best of these is www.tennis.com/livescores/index.aspx
The whole tennis.com site is excellent and has lots of background information on players and previous head to head results -essential for analysing a match.

For the four major tournaments, they have their own live tracker scoring system -which are very quick.
The site for the 2007 US Open www.usopen.org had an IBM system that was actually quicker to register scores than the radio commentary on BBC Radio Five!