While the world, it seems, was rooting for Serena Williams to pull it out, sportsbooks were not on the 40-year-old’s side.
Williams’ three-set loss to Ajla Tomljanovic in the third round of the US Open put an end to her run and those running sportsbooks could breathe a sigh of relief.
Williams started the tournament as long as 50/1 at some sportsbooks, but the money really started to come in after her second-round win over No. 2 ranked Anett Kontaveit.
“Start putting your money on her,” former tennis great and analyst Chris Evert said after the match.
And bettors did. Odds shortened from as high as 22/1 to as low as 10/1 as the money poured in.
By the time her match started on Friday night, Williams made up 41% of the money in the women’s singles futures market at FanDuel and 40% at DraftKings. She made up 29% of the money at PointsBet and was the top liability everywhere.
