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Djokovic on his way to a near-sweep of 2019's Grand Slam titles

Profile Picture: Ashley Anderson

August 23rd, 2019

The Big Three of Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer head to Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York on Monday to compete for the fourth and final Grand Slam of the year.

Djokovic, the reigning U.S. Open champ, is the favorite (+110) to win the hard-court tournament and could cap off the summer with a near-sweep of all four Grand Slam titles in 2019. The Serbian tennis icon won the Australian Open in January, when he defeated Rafael Nadal 6–3, 6–2, 6–3 to secure a record seventh championship in Melbourne.

In June, Djokovic defended his Wimbledon title, as well, when he took down Federer in the longest singles final in the tournament’s history. The only Grand Slam Djokovic failed to win in 2019 was the French Open, which Nadal once again dominated for his 12th overall victory at Roland Garros.
It’ll be difficult to stop the No. 1 player in the world, though he’s not invincible. Just last week he lost to Daniil Medvedev (the fourth-favorite to win the U.S. Open at +1200) in the semifinal of the Cincinnati Masters, another hard-court competition. The 23-year-old Russian sensation is ranked fifth in the world and will have the chance to upset Djokovic once again should both of them reach the quarterfinal the first week of September.

Nadal (+300) and Federer (+700) are also in prime position to swipe the U.S. Open title from the reigning champ, considering no player other than Federer, Nadal or Djokovic has won a Grand Slam since 2017.

Nadal won the U.S. Open the year before Djokovic and scored another victory in 2013, when he defeated Joker 6–2, 3–6, 6–4, 6–1. Federer hasn’t felt U.S. Open glory for more than a decade, but he owns the most titles (five), which he earned consecutively from 2004-2008.


Stefanos Tsitsipas and Dominic Thiem (both +2500) could give Djokovic, Nadal or Federer some trouble in New York, but at most they can hope for an upset of one of the favorites in the latter stages of the tournament, where they'll likely be outmatched. While it would be exciting to see someone other than the Big Three reign supreme, 2019 just isn't the year for it.

When it comes down to who will celebrate victory in New York, though, the man who's appeared in seven of the past nine title matches is your only viable choice. It's Djokovic's year, and no one is going to stand in the way of him securing his third Grand Slam to cap off 2019.




Find the full list of U.S. Open odds on men's and women's singles and doubles action at BetAmerica

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