Tennis soon back on the gambler’s radar

It is the time of year when sports gamblers in Ireland and the UK tend to concentrate on horse racing and the summer sports. The football season is of course just about to start in earnest, but cricket is still in full swing with twenty 20 matches a popular sports gambling opportunity. For gamblers on tennis, there tends to be a fall in the profile of the sport after Wimbledon, although the ATP tour continues to provide tournaments for the tennis gambler to enjoy before the last Major of the year at the end of this month. The 2011 US Open starts in New York on the 29^th August and promises to be a fitting finale to what has been an exciting year for gamblers on tennis. Defending Champion Rafael Nadal is no longer Number One in the world rankings following an incredible season from Novak Djokovic during which he has lost only one match in the Majors by losing to Roger Federer in the semi- finals of the French Open. Djokovic bounced back from that defeat to win Wimbledon and add a second Major to his Australian Open title in 2011. The US Open is the fourth and final Major of the year and tennis gamblers will have a difficult decision to make when trying to pick the winner from amongst the top four players in the world. All four have reached a Major final during 2011 and there is no obvious reason why they will not contest the semi-finals in New York. Roger Federer has a tremendous record in the US Open having won five of the last seven, but he has not yet won a Major this year. Rafael Nadal won the French Open again but was beaten in four sets at Wimbledon by Djokovic , whilst Andy Murray reached the final of the Australian Open and had a great run to the semis on clay at the French Open. Many tennis experts believe that the hard courts represent the best chance for Murray to win his first Major, so although he will clearly be the outsider of the four he could be a good bet.