US Open Betting – Ivanovic in first round action

New York , USA – Former world No. 1 and 2008 French Open champion Ana Ivanovic will open her campaign under the lights in New York on Tuesday night, with a spot in the US Open second round on the line.

The Serbian starlet Ivanovic enters her matches as a solid favourite for the outright win. But don’t expect it to be an easy match. Two shaky starts were already witnessed in the first round by Venus Williams (No.3 seed) and Dinara Safina (No.1 seed) as their opponents really took it to them. It came down to the experience of both Safina and Williams and they pulled through the scare.

Ivanovic has been overall shaky this term that if she were to come up against a player willing to take it to her methinks she might not be so lucky as her peers in spite of her obvious experience and championship pedigree. The pivotal reason is her confidence has been cracked open like a walnut. Her opponents know this as do tennis fans. So where Ivanovic is concerned there is real cause for concern. If not tonight, then sooner rather than later. You can bet on it.

Tennis Betting Line:

Ana Ivanovic -3 -125 -200 21½ O -110 U -130

Kateryna Bondarenko +3 -115 +150 21½ O -110 U -130

Match Time: Not Before 07:00 P.M. Eastern Time Tuesday September 1, 2009

Tennis Betting Verdict: Serbian starlet and former world No.1 Ivanovic who enters the tournament as the 11 th seed opens night action on Louis Armstrong – clearly she had to make way for Maria Sharapova (her star shoots further apparently) as tournament directors give Shaza (No.29 seed) the honours of opening the night proceedings on Arthur Ashe Stadium. How much can change in a season. That she, Ivanovic, is no longer considered a big-ticket item tells the story of how Ana’s star has fizzled.

But she has much bigger concerns than worrying about which stadium she will be playing in, and that is Kateryna Bondarenko; fresh off a giant-killing spurt at the Rogers Cup where she took down Venus Williams in the second round. Ivanovic should be worried [insert shiver].

The market favours Ivanovic at -200 to win outright. Yet, in spite of this encouraging vote of confidence by the bookies, Ivanovic has not measured up to their esteem in my opinion. In the first round of the preceding three Grand Slams she had her share of scares and nigh-upsets. All three Grand Slam openers each featured a lesser ranked player. Ivanovic managed to hold her weight then because all three didn’t take themselves seriously. Bondarenko might take herself seriously though – after all getting into the win column over Venus Williams has to raise her confidence a notch or two.

The way I see this match: it is there for the taking. Bondarenko impressed in Toronto – even though she went on to lose her next match to Radwanska – and her +150 underdog odds are attractive. Ivanovic is a good play, if spread at -3 -125. If you like Bondarenko for the win you might like the totals at 21 ½ over -110 as well.