US Open Betting / Ben Caudell / 31 August 2009 /

Ben Caudell talks us through the best bets on day one of the US Open.

Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) v Andreas Seppi (ITA)

This is a match-up between two known chokers in the tennis world. As talented as they both are, they frequently lose matches when in commanding positions and usually against better ranked opposition. On their day both players have the prowess to defeat top ten players - Seppi defeated Nadal in Rotterdam in 2008 and Kohlschreiber defeated Novak Djokovic at this year's French Open. However, more often than not, both players seem to lose their bottle at the most decisive moments in a match and therefore find it hard to win matches against higher ranked players.

Andreas Seppi's favoured surface is clay and like Kolschreiber he was brought up a dirt baller and therefore his game relies on his consistency from the back of the court and less on his serving and volleying. Having reached the semi finals of the Umag ATP tournament, losing a close fought match against Juan Carlos Ferrero and winning the San Marino Challenger earlier this month (both tournaments on clay), the Italian has since shown some decent form when changing to the American hard-courts. A 7-6, 7-6 loss to Rafael Nadal in the recent Cincinnati Master Series event will provide Seppi with confidence to believe he is able to compete with the best and the Italian will need to be able to hold his nerve against the German if he is to progress into the second round of the US Open.

I can see this being a close fought match with it potentially going to five sets. Seppi leads the head-to-head series 1-0 and will be hoping to improve on his third round exit at last year's event.

Selection: Back Seppi @ [2.6] to win match

Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA) v Iveta Benesova (CZE)

Home girl Mattek-Sands has only ever been past the first round of the US Open twice before, she has lost in the first round on four occasions and will find it hard to overcome Iveta Benesova, ranked 86 places above her in the world rankings.

The 24 year-old American is having a disastrous summer losing her last ten consecutive matches. Not since May of this year has Mattek Sands won a match, a three set defeat over Tathiana Garbin at the Rome Premier Event. Benesova is also struggling to find form on the hard courts but has not been as inconsistent as her counterpart over the last three months. The young Czech performed well earlier in the year on the hard courts reaching the final of the Hobart International, the semi final of the Monterrey International and the quarterfinals of Miami. Owing to the fact that Benesova has defeated Mattek-Sands at the US Open back in 2004 and the American's recent lack of confidence, this should be a straight forward win for Benesova.

Selection: Back Iveta Benesova @ [1.5] to win match

'.$sign_up['title'].'

'; } } ?>

:

:

:

?

: