It is the most elusive achievement in all of professional tennis. Legendary tennis professional Rod Laver was the last player to achieve this and that was in 1969. Many legends of the sport got close, but fate kept them at bay. That includes tremendous players like Bjorn Borg, Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, Pete Sampras, Arthur Ashe, Roger Federer, and Rafael Nadal.

Of course, we are referring to the Grand Slam of Tennis. The Grand Slam of Tennis includes The French Open, The Australian Open, Wimbledon, and The U.S. Open. To claim the “calendar Grand Slam,” a player has to win all four of these major tournaments in the same year. What makes it such an amazing feat is the tournaments are played in four different countries on four very different surfaces against the very best players in the world.

Novak Djokovic is sitting on the cusp of tennis history as he begins his quest to win the U.S. Open. If he were to win this year’s Open title over the next couple of weeks, he will have achieved the near impossible. He will have claimed the first calendar Grand Slam in 52 years.

 

Recap of 2021 Season

Hailing from Serbia, the 34 year old Djokovic has been a little inconsistent throughout the year. Having entered a total of eight tournaments to date in 2021, he won four of them. Of course, three of those wins came when it mattered most.

As a testament to his inconsistency, he looked strong in capturing the Wimbledon title in early July. Three weeks later, he lost in the semi final round of the Japan Summer Olympics to German Alexander Zverev (ranked $4). He then went on to lose in straight sets in the bronze medal match to world #6 Pablo Carreño Busta of Spain.

The disappointment was clear since tennis players only get a chance to play for Olympic Gold once every four years. This was Djokovic’s third time to chase gold without winning it. Needing a chance to recharge his batteries, Novak went to Montenegro to spend time with his family and friends. Reportedly, he is feeling fresh and ready to make history.

By the way, there is also a Majors tennis record on the line in this year’s U.S. Open. Should Djokovic win the title, he would become the winningest Grand Slam men’s tennis player in history. He is currently tied with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal at 20 Grand Slam titles each. It’s noteworthy that Djokovic has appeared in 15 less Grand Slams events than Federer.

 

Betting Odds on the 2021 U.S. Open

For a lot of sports bettors in America, this will be their first opportunity to legally wager on U.S. Open matches. The U.S. Open is played at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows in New York. Men’s Singles matches will be getting underway on August 30, 2021 with the Men’s Final coming on September 12, 2021. Here are the latest Futures Odds to win the title:

Novak Djokovic, -141
Daniil Medvedev, +400
Alexander Zverev, +600
Stefanos Tsitsipas, +900
Matteo Berrettini,+2000
Andrey Rublev, +2800
Jannik Sinner, +3300
Milos Raonic, +3300
Denis Shapovalov, +4000
Felix Auger Aliassime, +5000
Andy Murray, +6000
Aslan Karatsev, +6000
Nick Kyrgios, +6000
Karen Khachanov, +6000
Hubert Hurkacz, +6000

Missing from this list is are defending champion Dominic Thiem of Austria, Federer, and Nadal all reporting injuries. That certainly makes the path towards history a little easier.

If there is anyone standing in Djokovic’s way, it might well be Zverev who is playing the best tennis of his life. Having beaten Djokovic in Japan and then going on to win Gold, the 27 year old German in entering his prime. At odds of +600, there appears to be some real betting value here. With that said, Zverev has yet to make it out of the 2nd round in Flushing Meadows.

Djokovic is standing on history’s doorstep.