US Open men’s semis: Djokovic and Federer face familiar foes

ATP world number one Novak Djokovic and all-time Grand Slam great Roger Federer should be set to meet again in the US Open final after contesting top honours at Wimbledon earlier this season.

Coral make Serbian rack star Djokovic their odds-on 4/6 favourite to reign supreme at Flushing Meadows again, while Swiss sensation Federer is 7/4 to take the title in New York. Before the top man and wily veteran can think about facing each other once more, they have to win semi-final fixtures with respective familiar foes Marin Cilic, who is the current US Open champ, and French Open holder Stan Wawrinka.

Although Cilic took the title at Flushing Meadows last year, many think it was a fluke and that is reflected in his rank outsider odds of 25/1 to retain. The Croatian’s major stumbling block is he has lost all 13 previous head-to-heads with deadly Djokovic.

Such shocking stats from Cilic’s perspective explain his price for a second successive Grand Slam triumph in the USA, and the 11/2 odds to upset Djokovic, who is overwhelming odds-on 1/9 match favourite.

Punters can enhance that to 8/11 by backing Djokovic to replicate his straight sets victory from Wimbledon earlier this summer.

Stan Wawrinka v Roger Federer
In this 20th meeting of Swiss stars Federer and Wawrinka, it’s the leading 17-time Grand Slam winner who is odds-on 3/10 match favourite,

Late-bloomer Wawrinka beat Federer en route to Roland Garros glory earlier this year, however, and will be looking to repeat his clay court success at Flushing Meadows with odds of 5/2 to do just that.

So long in Federer’s shadow, Wawrinka now feels he is on a par with his lauded compatriot after taking a second Grand Slam title at the French Open earlier this year.

“I think now we are both nervous when we enter the court,” said Wawrinka. “I was nervous because I knew I wasn’t at his level and now I think we can see that he is also nervous every time we play each other in the past few years.

“That’s a big difference because that shows how much he knows that I can play at his level, how much he knows I can try to play my game and not just try to react about what he’s doing.”

Coral’s top tip: All signs point to a classic between Federer and Wawrinka, so back a 3-2 win for the senior Swiss at a fantastic 5/1.