Bookies retain faith in Murray despite early US Open exit
By Alexandra Willis
6 September 2010
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Bookmakers Ladbrokes are offering odds of 1-2 that Andy Murray will win a Grand Slam during his career, despite the Scot's bizarre exit at the hands of Stanislas Wawrinka in the third round of the US Open. The British No1 was at a loss to explain the reasons for the defeat, his earliest Grand Slam departure since being bundled out of the 2008 French Open by Nicolas Almagro. But despite the uncertainty surrounding the despondent Murray, Ladbrokes are confident that the 23-year-old will end Britain's log wait for a male Grand Slam champion next year. The wait currently stands at 74 years and counting . . .
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Releasing odds of 6-4 that Murray breaks his Grand Slam duck in 2011 or 2012, David Williams of Ladbrokes commented: "One defeat doesn't make you a bad player, and although going out to Wawrinka will be a setback, we still think he's got the ability win a Slam in his career." The odds on the Brit never winning a Grand Slam are also 6-4. Betting firms SkyBet and Bet365 agree with Murray's chances to win a major next year, while William Hill and Coral expect him to miss out in 2011.
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As sportingintelligence reported in January, the chances of a male player becoming a multi-Slam winner in his career start to get more and more remote if he hasn't won one Slam before the age of 23. In Murray's absence in New York, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are favourites to land the 2010 Flushing Meadows crown, the Swiss start receiving odds of 6-5, and Nadal, the current world No1, 11-8. The Spaniard is aiming to reach the final in New York for the first time, after moving seamlessly past Gilles Simon into the fourth round.
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