By lunchtime tomorrow the first tennis slam of the year will be decided and with that, we will have the answers to some of the questions that have plagued Men’s tennis for a considerable time: can the big three be finally broken? When will the next generation make the step required to finally knock the old guard off their throne?
The US Open final provided a warning shot as Daniil Medvedev pushed Rafael Nadal all the way to the brink in an epic five-setter that will live long in the memory. November’s world tour finals witnessed the first signs of a chink in the armour as three of the four semi-finalists were under 30 (Thiem being the oldest at 26). This trend has continued with Thiem’s 3-1 set betting Quarterfinal upset over Nadal.
Recent encounters between the two finalists are surprisingly in the favour of Thiem.
Big Dom has won two of the last three matches (all played in 2019), however, one of these wins was on clay – Thiem’s strongest surface (the 2019 French Open: 6-2, 3-6, 7-5, 5-7, 7-5 Thiem) -and the other was during the world tour finals (6-7, 6-3 7-6 Thiem) which was a best of three format at the end of a long season.
Grandslam finals are a different beast and the joker comes alive in this setting. There will be no fear for the Austrian as he sets out to topple the current king of tennis. However, it will likely be a slugfest between these two fiery players. All this considered here are our three best bets for the big game.
#WhatOddsPaddy: Djokovic to Win 3-1 or Thiem to Win 3-2 Set Betting @ 8/5
#WhatOddsPaddy: Either Player to Win the first set 7-5 or 7-6 @ 5/4
#WhatOddsPaddy: Djokovic Wins & Tiebreak in 1st Set @ 7/2
Onto the next tennis event over at Paddypower.com