Serena Williams’ Final US Open Draws Heavy Betting Action

Posted on: September 1, 2022, 03:27h. 

Last updated on: September 1, 2022, 08:13h.

Corey Levitan Read More

Expertise: Commercial Gaming, Entertainment, Expert Insight, Las Vegas.

Since the US Open tournament began Tuesday in Flushing Meadows in the borough of Queens, New York, Serena Williams has been the only woman to receive multiple $1K+ bets for US Open futures, according to Caesars Sportsbook.

In fact, according to Caesars, the American tennis superstar has secured 47.3% of the tickets and 47.9% of the money among all women’s US Open futures wagers.

Before the tournament, Caesars said, 17 bets of $1K or more to win the women’s US Open were placed. None were on Williams. On Aug. 9, the 40-year-old announced that this would be her final US Open before retiring from tennis.

“It’s not surprising that up to the build-up. she didn’t get all this action because people didn’t know what to expect,” said Adam Pullen, Caesars Sportsbook’s assistant director of trading. “She lost early on in Cincinnati and Toronto. So it’s not like she got to the final there, and there was anticipation that she’d do well at the US Open. So I think a lot of people were skeptical and were waiting to see a match or two before really getting involved with their future bets.”

Tournament Stats

The American tennis superstar entered the tournament as a +5000 longshot to win her seventh and final US Open. But her upset win over No. 2 seed Anett Kontaveit of Estonia on Wednesday took her odds down to +3000.

They’re now at +1400, behind only favorites Iga Swiatek of Poland (+300), Caroline Garcia of France and American Coco Gauff (both +1000), Ludmilla Samsonova of Russia (+1100), and Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus (+1300).

60% More Money

Kontaveit closed as the -250 Caesars Sportsbook favorite to beat Williams, who was priced at +190. According to Caesars, Wednesday’s second round was the most popular US Open match “by a lot,” receiving 60% more money than the next closest. In her opening matchup, Williams was a significant favorite (-380) over Montenegrin Danka Kovinic of Montenegro (+275).

“Now that they’ve seen her win a couple of matches, the action is going to get bigger and bigger,” Pullen said. “She’s earned that respect for people to invest their money in her. The more she wins, the more people are going to bet her in her matches and to win the tournament.”

Williams is currently a -170 favorite to win her third match of this US Open. It’s against Croatian-American Ajla Tomljanovic. The match can be seen at 7 p.m. ET Friday, Sept. 2, on ESPN.