US Open Betting / Sean Calvert / 02 September 2011 /

Plenty of outsiders in with a real shout today according to Sean Calvert, and a prickly opponent for Andy Murray in the shape of Robin Haase. He may not beat the Scot but he's more than capable of taking a set off him...

Thursday turned out to be a disappointing day at the 2011 US Open after a promising start, with a couple of losses and yet another injury withdrawal.

Zheng Jie looked for all the world to be the winner against Andrea Petkovic at a set and 3-0 and [1.16] in the betting, but couldn't get the job done and Alejandro Falla was poor against veteran Tommy Haas.

But there's plenty to choose from today and as ever I'm going with the best value from amongst today's matches. And there looks to be a lot of outsiders with a chance today. But rather than tackling the match odds straight up, I'm beginning by laying Andy Murray to beat Robin Haase in straight sets at [1.65].

Haase is in rare form at the moment and if he hadn't suffered a lot with injury the Dutchman would surely have been a top-20 player by now.

He has won nine of his last 10 matches including the title in Kitzbuhel and in the one match that he lost (to Julien Benneteau) he had match points, so Haase is in great form.

His big-hitting game could stun Murray if the Scot is in one of those passive frames of mind that he gets into often and I wouldn't put anyone off backing Haase at a huge [11]. But it's more likely that he'll nab a set and then fade.

Similarly, it's worth a bet that the fading Andy Roddick will drop at least a set to the new Nebraskan on the block, Jack Sock.

I tipped the youngster to take out Marc Gicquel in the first round and his big hitting and energy could frighten the life out of an ailing A-Rod. But under the lights for the first time on Ashe it's asking a lot for Sock to win the match against a man whose press conferences are considerably more entertaining than his tennis these days.

This isn't the Roddick of old and Sock can nick a set, so lay Roddick 3-0 at [1.46].

For outright wins, I like the in-form Vasek Pospisil at [3.7] to defeat Feliciano Lopez and likewise James Blake has rediscovered his fire and he'll love the late match on Grandstand against David Ferrer.

Blake is 2-0 against Ferrer and can trouble the Spaniard in the same way as Igor Andreev did for a while in Ferrer's first round match. Take Blake in front of the J-Block at [3.75].

On the women's side today, it looks to be a day for the favourites with the exception of Sam Stosur v Nadia Petrova, which could be a great battle.

The Russian's big game still fires at times, winning Washington this swing. Plus, she reached the quarters in Cincy, and her 4-1 head-to-head record and the fact that she's around [2.7] makes her the call over the Aussie.

Stosur has only once been past the second round in New York and although this could be a long one, the value lies with Petrova.

Recommended bets:

Lay Murray 3-0 v Haase at [1.65]
Lay Roddick 3-0 v Sock at [1.46]
Back Vasek Pospisil at [3.7]
Back James Blake at [3.75]
Back Nadia Petrova at [2.7]

Follow Sean during the US Open on Twitter @seancalvert1

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