With Sharapova serving the way she has been serving there is no way she can be backed at 8 to 1 to win the US Open.
Maria Sharapova, the 3rd favorite for the 2010 US Open championship, should not be so highly regarded. Sharapova, currently idle on tour, did make the championship match in Stanford last week (l. to Azarenka) and she will be back on the courts shortly as Cincinnati and Montreal are coming up soon on the women's tour.
Sharapova is priced at +800 (8/1) with Boylesports in the outright winner's market for the US Open and those odds have to be considered short as the Russian has significant service problems that will make her very vulnerable on the hard courts.
Sharapova has never really regained her form since returning from injury in 2009 and she is a major case of "bettor's beware":
2009 French Open: Quarterfinals
2009 Wimbledon: 2nd round
2009 US Open: 3rd round
2010 Australian Open: 1st round
2010 French Open: 3rd round
2010 Wimbledon: 4th round
Sharapova's titles in 2010 are only on the small stages as she won WTA Strasbourg in May and WTA Memphis in February however she did not face anyone one better than Anabel Garrigues Medina in either draw.
Against the top 30 Sharapova is just 3-6 in 2010 although all three of those wins came at Stanford so perhaps she is improving (J. Zheng, E. Dementieva, and A. Radwanska). Sharapova's quarterfinal victory over Elena Dementieva in that draw remains the only time in 2010 where she, Sharapova, has beaten a top 10 player.
Like many top 50 players, Sharapova can be dangerous "on any given day" but to see her put an entire Grand Slam tournament together would be surprising at this point, especially since she may be in tough right from the opening round at Flushing Meadows if she gets an unlucky draw.
After all the double faults at Stanford we're changing our tune a little bit on Sharapova as she could be put at true odds of about +3300 for the 2010 US Open. All of the following bets are smarter at this point:
Serena Williams at +275 (11/4) with SportingBet
Kim Clijsters at +550 (11/2) with Bodog
Victoria Azarenka at +1600 (16/1) with William Hill
Caroline Wozniacki +2500 (25/1) with SportingBet
Register with SportingBet to back Serena Williams at her best price - MAXIMUMBONUS is your promo code for a free bet that can be used on the women's draw.
