Is men's field wide open at 2026 U.S. Open?
Vaughn Dalzell and Drew Dinsick talk through the betting options for the men's side of the U.S. Open.
Video Transcript
I was pretty surprised to see Ben Shelton at 9-1 to win the U.S. Open, but without Jannik Sinner playing and Carlos Alcaraz missing so much of the season, it kind of feels like it's an opportunity for the American, Drew.
Is this field wide open, or should we lay our cold hard cash on one of these top three favorites?
Yeah, so it's a fun handicap, Vaughn, and honestly, I do think a North American player will win, but I'll save that for the end here.
Let's talk about the top of the board where Jannik Sinner's absence has created a huge vacuum.
And in the backfill, Carlos Alcaraz is installed right now as the favorite.
We have not seen Carlos Alcaraz play for months, and in general, he missed the entire middle of the season here, did not get any warm-up events on hard court to kind of gain form.
And what we've seen so far from him in practice and in mixed doubles has not looked competitive.
So what you're seeing right now at a price of 2-1, that's drifted.
When he initially made the announcement, I'm playing, you could have found him as short as about plus 120.
That has really, really not been supported by the market here as people are unimpressed with his warm-up.
And in general, that has opened the door for Zverev, who has been bet on aggressively.
Now, Zverev has done nothing of note since his Wimbledon final loss.
He looks like he peaked in the summer, and I don't know if I would put any hard-earned money on plus 320 for Zverev.
He looks like he's going to need some fortune to make a deep run in this tournament.
Djokovic is just completely washed based on the recent results we've seen from him, which, again, that opens the door for the American contingent and the Canadian contingent.
Ben Shelton has a chance.
Taylor Fritz has a chance.
But the price that really sings to me is Felix Auger-Aliassime.
He is Canada's men's number one.
He has, in general, played some of his best tennis over the course of his career at Flushing Meadows.
The surface speed absolutely sings with his playing style.
And in general, I think is being underpriced by market just because he hasn't ever gotten to a final of a slam before.
This is his time to shine.
With Alcaraz limited, with Sinner gone, the door is wide open for a long shot price to come through for the first time in a very long time.
I'm not going to be sad if I miss the chance to bet on one of these young Americans finally getting a slam.
But for me, it's the Canadian that makes the most sense at price.
