Any tennis fans here? I never liked it all my life. Then I got into gambling a few years ago. Suddenly tennis was a lot of fun.
The 4 majors are the most fun, as the best of 5 matches bring out the best in everyone, and they can have insane momentum swings. The women do still play best of 3 in the majors.
The men are so ridiculously good. I have a lot of respect for them. Had I actually watched them play years ago, I probably would have noticed this, but I thought tennis wasn't for football and basketball fans.
The women are very good too, but there's a giant difference in ground covered and ball speed in men vs women. And women have a lot more trouble holding serve, making them the more difficult side to wager on.
Australian native Nick Kyrgios lost last night. Not unexpected. He was hurt last year. He's one of the most entertaining players out there.
I'm a big fan of Ben Shelton, who won the singles national championship at Florida a few years ago. He's still probably too inexperienced to win this, but he could make a 1/4 final for sure.
Jannik Sinner is the men's favorite at +110. Carlos "the kid" Alcaraz is next at +320, and Joker is +700. Sinner was probably the best player in the world in 2024. If you made me pick, I'd take Sinner or Carlos to win it all, but I could also see Zverev, Medvedev, Rune, and maybe Fritz winning.
Aryna Sabalenka is the women's favorite at +160, followed by "queen" Iga Swiatek of Poland at +430, and then Coco Gauff, an American fan favorite, at +500. I would pick Iga to win, and also throw in there Qinwen Zheng and Elena Rybakina as having a chance.
But in either the men or women, there could be someone coming out of the cut to make noise.
Probably any of the top 20 favorites on either side could win it. There's more parity than in college football.
Tennis basically operates on a calendar year, so this is the first big event of the new season. I do like to wait a few months into the new year to see who has the best form before I really wager on anyone. The unknown of the new year leads to a lot of excitement and upsets.
The 4 majors are the most fun, as the best of 5 matches bring out the best in everyone, and they can have insane momentum swings. The women do still play best of 3 in the majors.
The men are so ridiculously good. I have a lot of respect for them. Had I actually watched them play years ago, I probably would have noticed this, but I thought tennis wasn't for football and basketball fans.
The women are very good too, but there's a giant difference in ground covered and ball speed in men vs women. And women have a lot more trouble holding serve, making them the more difficult side to wager on.
Australian native Nick Kyrgios lost last night. Not unexpected. He was hurt last year. He's one of the most entertaining players out there.
I'm a big fan of Ben Shelton, who won the singles national championship at Florida a few years ago. He's still probably too inexperienced to win this, but he could make a 1/4 final for sure.
Jannik Sinner is the men's favorite at +110. Carlos "the kid" Alcaraz is next at +320, and Joker is +700. Sinner was probably the best player in the world in 2024. If you made me pick, I'd take Sinner or Carlos to win it all, but I could also see Zverev, Medvedev, Rune, and maybe Fritz winning.
Aryna Sabalenka is the women's favorite at +160, followed by "queen" Iga Swiatek of Poland at +430, and then Coco Gauff, an American fan favorite, at +500. I would pick Iga to win, and also throw in there Qinwen Zheng and Elena Rybakina as having a chance.
But in either the men or women, there could be someone coming out of the cut to make noise.
Probably any of the top 20 favorites on either side could win it. There's more parity than in college football.
Tennis basically operates on a calendar year, so this is the first big event of the new season. I do like to wait a few months into the new year to see who has the best form before I really wager on anyone. The unknown of the new year leads to a lot of excitement and upsets.
