2021 US Open tennis odds: Serena Williams joins Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Dominic Thiem as withdrawals
The U.S. Open tennis field is losing more top players by the day due to injury.
Potential winners of the final tennis Grand Slam tournament of the season, the U.S. Open, continue to withdraw for injury reasons as six-time women's champion Serena Williams of the USA has joined five-time champion Roger Federer, four-time champion Rafael Nadal and defending men's champion Dominic Thiem among the players who will skip the event in New York that begins Monday.
Serena remains stuck on 23 Grand Slam tournament titles, one behind the record set by Margaret Court. Williams, who last won the U.S. Open in 2014 (lost in final in both 2018 & '19; lost in semifinals last year) has not played on the WTA Tour this year since an injured hamstring forced her to WD from her first-round match at Wimbledon. She has made four Slam finals since giving birth to daughter Alexis Olympia in September 2017, but lost all four in straight sets.
"After careful consideration and following the advice of my doctors and medical team, I have decided to withdraw from the US Open to allow my body to heal completely from a torn hamstring," Williams wrote on social media. "New York is one of the most exciting cities in the world and one of my favorite places to play - I'll miss seeing the fans but will be cheering everyone on from afar. Thank you for your continued support and love. I'll see you soon."
Williams, who will be 40 next month, hasn't won a Slam since the 2017 Australian Open and it's looking less and less likely she will catch Court. Serena is down to 22nd in the world rankings and just 12-5 in matches (six total tournaments) this year. She was +1000 to win the U.S. Open.
World No. 1 Ashleigh Barty is the +350 favorite to win the U.S. Open on the women's side followed by Naomi Osaka at +450. Osaka is the defending champion and also won the tournament in 2018, beating Serena 6-2, 6-4 in the final. Osaka withdrew from this year's French Open and skipped Wimbledon because of social anxiety issues but is on track to play this tournament. Barty didn't play last year's U.S. Open and hasn't been past the fourth round in New York. She did win Wimbledon earlier this summer.
On the men's side, No. 1 Novak Djokovic is the clear-cut -150 favorite to win his fourth U.S. Open title, 21st overall Grand Slam title, which would set a record and break a tie with Federer and Nadal, and complete the calendar-year Slam. No one has accomplished that since 1969. Djokovic comes off a semifinal defeat (for bronze medal) to Alexander Zverev at the Tokyo Olympics and didn't play a warmup event for the U.S. Open.
Federer's career might be over following another knee surgery. Nadal has been dealing with a chronic foot injury, and his year is over. Thiem is dealing with a wrist injury. Stan Wawrinka is also out as he continues to recover from a foot injury. The 2016 champion has not played since March.
The U.S. Open draw is Thursday. It will be the first Grand Slam event without Serena, Federer or Nadal in the main singles draw since the 1997 U.S. Open.
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