US Open Mens Final

It's been a pretty good US Open for us, all things considered, aided considerably by Sloane Stephens giving us winner after winner in the Ladies, but we reach the final preview of an entertaining tournament as Rafael Nadal meets Kevin Anderson in the final at Flushing Meadows tonight.

The top half of the draw was always much more competitive than the bottom, so it's hardly a surprise to see Nadal go off as the heavy favourite here.

Experience

There is a chance that Kevin Anderson becomes a rabbit caught in the headlights in this one, in much the same way Marin Cilic did at Wimbledon (injury playing its part too). Nadal is a veteran on this stage - this will be his 23rd Grand Slam Final - he's won 15 of those - and truly ranks as one of the all time greats. Anderson will be making his debut in a major final.

Class

Nadal has planned his schedules much better of the past couple of years, and while hard courts aren't his favourite surface, he's done well enough on the major events, and boasts a 45-17 record against Top 100 players on the surface since the start of 2016. Anderson by contrast is just 19-15.

Ramp that up a little to look against the best in the business and Nadal is 5-7 and Anderson just 2-7.

Head to Head

Nadal has won all four meetings between the pair, dropping just one set over the years. An easy win looks on the cards.

Hold/Break Stats

Anderson is well known for his big serve, but interestingly, his stats are almost exactly the same as Nadals on Hard Courts. Over the past 52 weeks, Anderson has held serve in 87.9% of his games, while Nadal has a comparable record of 87.5%. In the receiving department however it won't be a surprise to know Nadal is an excellent 25.3%, while Anderson is a woeful 16.3%. Only John Isner is worse on that metric in the Top 30.

The Bet

With Nadal in far better form, and enjoying a much more leisurely route to the final (despite playing better players) he has to be the bet, and we fancy a 3-0 win for the Spaniard. 17/20 is widely available, and BetWay are among those offering that price.

Nadal to win 3-0 at 17/20 with Betway

#Tennis