After waiting for weeks and weeks, it’s finally time to place a bet on the winner of this year’s US Open.
Daniil Medvedev stood at just +400 to lift the trophy after the conclusion of Wimbledon.
A week later, he was around +500.
Entering the weekend, he has drifted out +700 at FanDuel Sportsbook.
The time to pounce is now.
Medvedev hasn’t played a match since his loss to eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz in the Wimbledon semifinals a few weeks ago, and with every passing week, it seems oddsmakers are souring on him more and more.
As the likes of Frances Tiafoe, Andy Murray and Stefanos Tsitsipas excite crowds this week and stay in the front of everyone’s minds, the odds for players who have been taking time off following Wimbledon have naturally increased as the public races to take out futures.
That has created some major value on the board, but with nearly every top player returning to the tour for the Rogers Cup on Monday, that value will quickly disappear.
To me, there’s no bigger value on the board than Medvedev.
He is a hardcourt specialist through and through, and that was abundantly clear as he again struggled to dominate on grass this year.
It was easy to see a loss to Alcaraz coming given the playing surface, but on the fast hardcourts at the US Open, Medvedev should have a fighting chance to defeat the World No. 1, should they meet.
Medvedev famously defeated Novak Djokovic in the US Open final just a couple of years ago, proving to the world that he is an absolutely dominant player on this surface.
He stands at 24-3 on hardcourts this year, and is a ridiculous 83-16 on that surface since the start of 2021.
It’s incredibly likely, then, that Medvedev will win a boatload of matches during his North American hardcourt swing this month and send his odds to win the US Open plummeting.
It’s always during this part of the tennis calendar that Medvedev stuns us with his ability.
Back in 2019, he announced his presence to the world by capturing his first Masters 1000 title in Cincinnati and losing to Rafael Nadal in the Rogers Cup final and the US Open final later that year.
He then won the Rogers Cup in 2021 and eventually the US Open just a few weeks later.
So, the time is now to secure some US Open futures if you can figure out who will be trending in the right direction over the next couple of weeks.
Medvedev is an easy call, especially as a former US Open champion.
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His compatriot, Andrey Rublev, is one to watch as well at 50/1.
The World No. 7 has never been to the semifinal stage of a grand slam, but has reached eight quarterfinals in his career.
Rublev has been an incredibly tough out on hardcourts over the last couple of years, and while there are a few obvious roadblocks in his way in the form of Alcaraz, Djokovic and Medvedev, he could easily make the semis and provide you with an opportunity to hedge your ticket if the draw breaks right.
There will be a lot of interest in the US Open futures market in the week leading up to the tournament, but the time to bet on a winner is now.
You won’t be able to get value like this once the top players return to the courts next week.