US Open Women's Betting: Back Watson to end her US Open drought

British hopeful Heather Watson has shown good improvement over the summer months

The first round schedule continues on Tuesday and Abelson Info take a look through some intriguing match-ups...

Defending champion and world number one Serena Williams gets her tournament underway on Tuesday, as she aims for a third successive US Open title.

Having failed at all three Grand Slams so far this year, the American ace will be desperate to claim the last major of the season and she arrives in good form after tournament wins in Stanford and Cincinnati.

Whether or not she can now finally produce that type of form across the next fortnight remains to be seen, but her focus will be on a tricky opening round clash against fellow American, Taylor Townsend.

The 18-year-old wildcard has conceded that it is a "huge honour and incredible moment" to face her idol at their home Slam, but if she isn't careful this could be all one-way traffic as she risks being overawed by the occasion and shows too much respect.

However, with Williams unsurprisingly a strong favourite in all markets, value lies elsewhere on Day 2, with Ana Ivanovic and Petra Kvitova both having difficult opening round matches to contend with.

This isn't Kvitova's favourite tournament given the fact that she has yet to reach the quarter-finals here in her career to date. Coupled with the threat that Kristina Mladenovic possesses, this has first round upset written all of it and the young French star has experience of it already this year.

Mladenovic defeated Li Na in the first round at the French Open earlier this year, and with the talent that she has, she is more than capable of adding another feather to her cap. However, she is also very unpredictable, and while we envisage her making this competitive, Kvitova should have enough to prevail.

Meanwhile, Ivanovic has looked in great form in recent weeks, and comes into this tournament as an outside bet to go all the way.
However, she must not look past Alison Riske who gave her a tough match earlier this year in their only previous meeting, and with home support backing the American, it could be another difficult evening's work for the Serbian star.

Elsewhere, Eugenie Bouchard, Sam Stosur and Victoria Azarenka will all be expected to come through their first round tests, but none offer much in the way of value in the match odds market.

As a result, Heather Watson may well be worth an investment ahead of her opener against Sorana Cirstea, with the British hopeful showing good improvement over the summer months.

With wins over the likes of Flavia Pennetta and Dominika Cibulkova under her belt, Watson has benefited from a more aggressive approach and she will look to take advantage of her opponent's lack of form and fitness after a recent shoulder injury.

Nevertheless, she has never won a match in four visits on the senior tour, but the former junior champion revealed that she isn't feeling any pressure this time round as she looks to improve on her world ranking further.

Recommended Bets

Back Watson to beat Cirstea 2-0 @ 2.226/5
Back Over 19.5 Games in Kvitova vs Mladenovic @ 2.021/1