Djokovic and Federer have history on their side in US Open semis

It will come as no surprise to tennis punters that multiple Grand Slam winners Novak Djokovic (1/8) and Roger Federer (2/7) are odds-on to advance from their respective US Open semi-finals.

Reigning Wimbledon men’s singles champion Djokovic takes on rising Japanese star Kei Nishikori, while Swiss racket icon Federers faces Croatia’s Marin Cilic at Flushing Meadows.

Because these tennis titans are such strong favourites, Coral are offering a special enhanced price of 4/1 on Djokovic and Federer both winning their semis in straight sets. Punters can stake a maximum of £25 on these enhanced odds, so there’s potentially £100 of profit to be made.

Serbia star Djokovic has beaten Nishikori without dropping a set (6-1 6-4 6-4) in their only previous meeting at a Grand Slam. That was on clay at Roland Garros in the 2010 French Open.

Djokovic, champion in New York in 2011, was due to play Nishikori at the Miami Masters earlier this season, but the latter pulled out. At Flushing Meadows, the Serb has dropped just a single set en route to the semis, and that was on a tiebreak in his quarter-final victory over Andy Murray.

Federer, meanwhile, has five wins out of five against Cilic. Three of those victories came in straight sets. These two have met at the US Open before, in the round of 32 in 2011, which as alluded to above was the year Djokovic won this hard court Grand Slam.

With history against Nishikori (5/1) and Cilic (11/4), and long respective odds for upsets, it is very hard to make a case for either. Simply put, the illustrious names of this sport have the beating of them.

In the ladies’ singles, home favourite Serena Williams is strongly odds-on at 1/5 for a third straight US Open crown. Her opponent is Danish 10th seed Caroline Wozniacki, who is in her second Grand Slam final, but is 7/2 to upset the reigning champion.