With the semi finals of the women’s draw of the US Open in Flushing Meadows seeing the top two players in the world in Serena Williams and Simona Halep coming into their final four stage clashes as big favourites against Roberta Vinci and Flavia Pennetta we were looking forward to a juicy final between the world’s best. However, following a delay of almost 24 hours following a wash out on Thursday the matches got underway and the first shock of the day came as world number 26 Pennetta breezed by Halep 6-1, 6-3 in just 59 minutes before the end of the Serena Slam came about as Vinci, who is ranked 43rd in the WTA rankings, clawed her way back from losing the first set 6-2 to take a three set victory to see an all Italian final in Queens.
The two players have never played in a Grand Slam final and with the Pennetta having edged the nine previous clashes between them 5-4 we’re arguably in for a closer final than with the usually dominant Serena Williams in action, but who’ll lift the trophy for the first time in their careers?
Online sportsbook 10bet.com see the slightly older of the two players in Pennetta being the one to end the day in celebrations as they make her the big favourite to make it 6-4 on her own personal scorecard with the more lowly ranked Taranto native.
Flavia Pennetta to lift the 2015 US Open title – 1.42
Roberta Vinci to win the 2015 US Open Final – 3.00
Pennetta has certainly had the easier of the two journeys to the US Open Final as she has won half of her six matches in straight sets, something that her opponent has managed to complete on just a single occasion at Flushing Meadows this year. Pennetta has seen off Monica Niculescu, Samantha Stosur and, of course, Simona Halep to reach this stage of the competition while she was progressing through the doubles competition too as she and Sara Errani reached the semi finals of the women’s doubles tournament before falling to the top seeds in Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza.
Vinci does have one advantage in the action played stakes as she was given a walkover in round four as Eugenie Bouchard was unable to compete after injuring herself and while she made hard work of beating world number 40 Kristina Mladenovic in the quarter finals 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 she really showed what she is made of in the semi finals to bounce back from 6-2 down to see off the winner of the last three US Open titles and all three other Grand Slam tournaments this year.
Vinci has not beaten Pennetta since 2009 with them meeting just twice since that 6-1, 6-2 win in Japan, but the elder of the two players claimed comfortable wins in the second round of the French Open in 2010 and this competition at the last eight stage two years ago in the 2013 running of the competition. All of the last six meetings between the two players have all ended quickly and in straight sets, but although Pennetta had the easier final four stage match Vinci has shown that she’s a fighter and she’ll take this final all the way.
We feel that the 10bet.com price of 3.00 on the outsider is very tempting, especially as when two first time Grand Slam finalists meet at this stage of one of the biggest competitions nerves and the ability to keep a level head is just as, if not more, important than skill with a tennis racquet. Just ask Sabine Lisicki who fell apart when she faced Marion Bartoli in the Wimbledon final in 2013!
No matter who wins this match we see both players pushing each other all the way and our pick on the 2015 US Open Final is for this to be a close match that goes the distance. Back +20.5 games to be played at odds of 1.77 in the 10bet Sportsbook.