The strongest patterns were in the women''s event which has been dominated by the top four seeds historically. A victory on a Tier 1 North American hard court event the same year was vital and, in our view, Serena was the standout candidate amongst the four ladies who ticked this key box. Another trend that was maintained was that for the 13th successive year the women''s final was won in straight sets.

Our endorsement of the Fed Express was primarily based on his unbelievable record at Flushing Meadows, Rafa Nadal''s failure to reach the semis of this event previously and Novak Djokovic''s hard court inconsistency.

We also felt that involvement in the latter stages of the Olympic singles might prove a physical hindrance for Nadal and Djokovic. This may or may not have been the case but, as in 2004, neither of the US Open men''s finalists were involved in the latter stages of the Olympics (singles).

We feel Marion Bartoli is statistically likely to make another slam final at some point and her form was respectable coming in. She was our longshot call in the women's draw (200/1) and we also picked her to win her quarter at 9/1. Having beaten Lindsay Davenport it was disappointing to see her go out in the last 16 to Sybille Bammer especially after winning the second set 6-0.

Our only other selection was Marat Safin at 200/1 each-way in the men's draw but the big Russian was not able to reproduce the form he''d shown at Wimbledon and was toppled in Round Two by Tommy Robredo 3-1.