US Open day 5: Venus will be on another planet to Sara Errani
Published:With the action well and truly underway in the US Open, we are beginning to see who is in it for the long haul and who could be heading for an earlier than planned exit.
While there are still seeing plenty of long odds-on shots expected to take apart lower rated opposition, there is still plenty of value to be had.
Take a look at our trio of best bets, and why not combine them in a treble, which pays none-too-shabby odds of over 7/1.
After a few years in the wilderness, Venus Williams seems to have found her mojo again.
Three (ultimately unsuccessful) final appearances on hard courts around the world signal that the former world number one could be set for a revival in her home Grand Slam, having exited in the second round in each of the last three years.
She has a perfect three from three head-to-head record against Sara Errani, and has yet to drop a set against the Italian.
Had this contest been on a clay court, we may be picking out a different outcome, but in New York, Williams has to be the pick.
He required all five sets to see off Andreas Haider-Maurer in his opener, but Roberto Bautista-Agut should make shorter work of his second round encounter.
A straight sets winner over Tim Smyczek on the Spaniard’s favoured court at the Australian Open, in which he dropped just four games, we could be set for a repeat at Flushing Meadows.
American, Smyczek has largely struggled this year when venturing away from the Challenger tour, failing to even qualify for the French Open and Wimbledon and looks set to miss out on a place in the last 32 here.
It’s been a funny old year for Teymuraz Gabashvili, having failed to reach a semi-final in any tournament, yet he has picked up some notable scalps along the way.
He should have enough to see off his fellow Russian here, to add to the likes of Marcel Granollers-Pujol, Fernando Verdasco and Nicholas Mahut who have fallen to the world number 62 in the last eight months.
The pair have met twice before, with Gabashvili triumphing in straight sets on both occasions, and it’s probably safe to expect him to make it a hat-trick here against the qualifier.
All odds and markets correct as of the date of publishing
