US Open Women's Betting: Serena to continue US Open dominance

Serena has a favourable draw and will look to retain her title...

The leading names in women's tennis are all set for New York and Abelson Info are back to discuss their chances of winning the last Grand Slam of the season...

The level of competition is as fierce as ever ahead of the US Open 2014, and although Li Na is a noticeable absentee through injury, it hasn't made the draw look any easier for the top seeds.

As expected, defending champion Serena Williams is the favourite to lift a third US Open title in a row, and it is fair to say that the draw has been particularly kind to her this time round.

Nevertheless, given her early exits at tournaments this year, it remains to be seen whether or not she can take full advantage of her situation. However, given her recent form on hard courts, it is difficult to see her slipping up unless the pressure of the occasion and expectation really gets to her.

The world number one has dealt with that through the majority of her career and we don't envisage it being a real problem, and so she will be highly fancied to dominate in the Big Apple yet again.

However, another star name to look out for in her quarter of the draw is Ana Ivanovic, who has been in great form in recent weeks which culminated in her run to the final in Cincinnati.

As with several other top seeds though, she was unable to find a way past Williams in the final, but it is promising to see the Serbia star back in the spotlight.

Elsewhere, third seed Petra Kvitova will have her hands full in the second quarter, and given the fact that she has never reached the quarter-finals of this major there are doubts over her ability to put up a real challenge.

Agnieszka Radwanska will similarly face some tough opposition en route to the latter stages of the tournament, but the fourth seed will have taken great confidence from her triumph at the Rogers Cup in the build-up to this tournament.

Meanwhile, the fourth quarter of the draw has undoubtedly been harsh on a number of big names, and it is almost impossible to predict who will prevail.

Maria Sharapova, Sabine Lisicki, Caroline Wozniacki, Venus Williams and Simona Halep will all be battling to emerge from that section of the draw, and that's not including some dangerous opponents such as Andrea Petkovic and Garbine Muguruza who could spring a surprise along the way.

As a result, it may be worth steering clear of those names given the unpredictability of that quarter, but there is one name that stands out elsewhere despite her recent poor form.

Eugenie Bouchard hasn't failed at the Grand Slams this year, reaching the semi-finals at the Australian and French before going one step further at Wimbledon.

Although her dream was crushed by Kvitova on that occasion, she clearly relishes the big stages and this could be no different. However, the smart money would be on Serena as she will be desperate to land her first major of the season.

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