2019 US Open First Round Women’s Betting Preview

Monday marks the opening round of the 2019 U.S. Open at Flushing Meadows in New York City. One of the most interesting subplots involves Serena Williams, who won her first Grand Slam singles title here 20 years ago, knocking off Martina Hingis. If she can pull off a win here, she would move into a tie with Margaret Court, who holds the record with 24 singles titles. She comes in as the eighth seed, with an opening-round match against Maria Sharapova, a former U.S. Open champion in her own right.  Williams has beaten Sharapova in 19 of their 22 encounters and has not lost to her in 15 years. She has reached three major finals since she returned from maternity leave in 2018, but she has lost all three, twice at Wimbledon and once at Flushing Meadows after an epic meltdown with the umpire that short-circuited her chances against Naomi Osaka. We have some perspectives about the top seeds for you to consider as you plan your US Open betting for the women’s draw.

2019 US Open First Round Women’s Betting Preview

Event Info

• When: August 26 – August 27
• Where: USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, Flushing Meadows, NY
• Surface: Hard
• TV: ESPN /ESPN2 / ESPN+
• Live Stream: ESPN+

Naomi Osaka is the top seed…and she won the Australian Open. However, she has not won any titles since then, so to say that she is a shaky top seed is definitely an understatement. The draw ahead of her is favorable, but if she doesn’t improve her mental game, her run here will end prematurely as well. Ashleigh Barty has not seen her string of successes on clay courts carry over to hardcourt surfaces, which is a head-scratching lack of correlation. She has seen her results cool of somewhat since June, but she has a complete game and considerable mental strength. Karolina Pliskova is currently the best player on the women’s side never to have won a Grand Slam tournament. She has fallen apart in a number of majors as well as warmup tournaments recently, but she still has power with few rivals in the game, and her serve is unreturnable when it is at its best. Simona Halep won at Wimbledon and then played average tennis running through the American hardcourt warmup tournaments. However, she has a steady head and does not get too far ahead of herself, solid traits to have in a seven-round tournament. Elina Svitolina has been playing well under the radar; her fifth seed is earned, even though she has not been dazzling in the press. However, it is time for her to take another step to announce herself as an elite contender. Petra Kvitova has not been playing a lot of tennis lately. Her entry here comes as the result of a wild card, but she was right there in that Australian Open final. With a similar surface here, it will be interesting to see how deep she can go. Serena Williams is the favorite — and the enigma. Will she overcome the meltdown that overtook her the last time she played here? Or will she fall apart again? Coco Gauff and Alison Riske are two interesting sleepers who surprised the tennis world with their runs at Wimbledon. How will they deal with the increased speed of play in the hardcourt game? How will they elevate their games now that they are not surprising anyone? Aryna Sabalenka went all the way to the finals in San Jose and had a solid Cincinnati tournament. She has a ton of power — but when she starts asking questions of herself, things can fall off the table quickly. Madison Keys rolled to the title in Cincinnati, the best tournament win of her career to this point. She has terrific power and adequate defense, but mental fragility has cost her in other tournaments. Can she show more stamina here? Sloane Stephens won the U.S. Open two years ago. She hits the ball well, moves at an elite level and has the mental strength to push to the finals. She has reunited with coach Kamau Murray. Is she ready to shake off a tough 2019 (to this point) and make a run?