The second round of both the singles draws begins at Flushing Meadows on Wednesday while the doubles also gets underway on what is expected to be yet another hot and sticky day in New York as the final major of the year continues.
The majority of the big names have made it through to the second round which means that on Wednesday we get the chance to see the likes of Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray, Juan Martin del Potro, Serena Williams and Elina Svitolina on what is a good looking card in the Big Apple.
Day 2 Recap
It was a dramatic second day of the tournament as Novak Djokovic had to go through the ringer before he made it through while the likes of Jelena Ostapenko and Daria Kasatkina had to come through deciding sets. There were much more convincing wins for Roger Federer, Alex Zverev, Caroline Wozniacki, Petra Kvitova and David Goffin among others.
It was an annoying day of voids for us on Tuesday with Mihaela Buzarnescu pulling out before her match. Filip Krajinovic annoyingly pulled out when a double break down in the decider which cost us a tidy winner but we did get away with one when Marius Copil decided his injury was enough to stop him playing out a certain defeat. Of the settled bets Kirsten Flipkens beat Coco Vandeweghe and we nailed a second accumulator in as many days.
Arthur Ashe Stadium
Both defending champions are on display on Ashe over the course of the third day of the tournament. The women’s defender Sloane Stephens will open up the action when she goes up against Anhelina Kalinina before the match of the day takes place when Andy Murray faces Fernando Verdasco in a real test of where the Scot is in his comeback from injury.
The night session gets underway with Serena Williams back under the lights on Arthur Ashe. The legend takes on Carina Witthoeft for a place in the third round where her sister Venus could await her. Rafael Nadal rounds off what looks like a good day on the main court when he faces the big serving Canadian player Vasek Pospisil.
Louis Armstrong Stadium
Elina Svitolina is given the honour of opening up the day session on Wednesday. She faces the competent challenge of Tatjana Maria before Venus Williams steps back onto the court to take on a Camila Giorgi who will be eyeing up a giant killing. The day session on the new court ends with a men’s match between Juan Martin del Potro and Denis Kudla.
Jack Sock is given the honour of opening up the night session on Louis Armstrong. He faces the test of Georgian player Nikoloz Basilashvili in a match the American will be eager to win to attempt to make up for a horrendous year so far. Garbine Muguruza rounds off the day when she takes on the Czech youngster Karolina Muchova.
Grandstand
Stan Wawrinka will be the first of a number of big names out on Grandstand on Wednesday. His reward for beating Grigor Dimitrov in the first round is a meeting with French player Ugo Humbert. The first women’s match of the day on this court looks a cracker as Julia Goerges meets Ekaterina Makarova before big serving John Isner faces Nicolas Jarry. The final match on the Grandstand sees Maria Sakkari facing the American player Sofia Kenin.
Court 17
I have to say the line up on Court 17 is as tasty as they come and I’d be quite happy to put the stream of the court on and watch it from the start right through to its conclusion. It gets underway with Victoria Azarenka taking on Daria Gavrilova before Dominic Thiem faces Winston-Salem finalist Steve Johnson. Jeremy Chardy then goes up against Kevin Anderson in a big hitting tussle before the action concludes on the court with a tasty looking battle between Lucie Safarova and Ash Barty.
Best of the Rest
Once again those with access to a ground pass or to streams of every court will get the chance to see some great action around the grounds. Barbora Strycova and Milos Raonic are among the stars out on Court 5 while Stefanos Tsitsipas will entertain the crowds on Court 10. Elise Mertens, Kaia Kanepi, Borna Coric and Karen Khachanov are some of the other big players on show throughout the afternoon and into the evening.
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Men’s Betting
I fancy a few big names could fall in what are betting upsets but which wouldn’t be massive surprises. The first big casualty I can see is Dominic Thiem. He takes on the Winston-Salem finalist Steve Johnson who has won their only hard court meeting. It is a concern that has to be recognised that we don’t know how much the American has left after a hard week but if he needs the crowd to pull him through they will give it a good go. Thiem’s form since Wimbledon hasn’t been the best and he looks vulnerable to the home man here to me.
Andy Murray has to be taken on too. He has a wonderful record against Fernando Verdasco but this Murray isn’t the one that beat the Spaniard 13 times out of 14 meetings. This one will be backing up a three hour match in extreme heat for the first time in 13 months and on that alone Verdasco has to be the call here. The longer this one goes on the more you would think it would suit Verdasco so I’ll take him to get one over Murray for whom this is as big a test of his body as his opponent.
Denis Shapovalov has hit a patch of indifferent form and while he was playing a good friend in the first round there was no part of it that you would he was playing anything like his best tennis and I think he’s vulnerable here against an Andreas Seppi who is 3-1 against left-handers this season and who has a winning record against them overall. Seppi is lucky to still be here with Sam Querrey withdrawing against him when the Italian was 2-1 down in sets but we know the veteran raises his game for the big stages and he’ll love to knock off the young buck. I think he’s a big price to do it too in a match which is much more 50:50 than the odds suggests.
Heading into the tournament it was always only ever going to be a matter of time before I took Jack Sock on and that time has arrived. In fairness I had hoped I was going to be doing it with someone more reliable than Nikoloz Basilashvili but Sock is yet to win two matches in the same tournament all year and at odds on in the night session on Louis Armstrong where the pressure is on him to deliver he just has to be taken on. Sock’s record here is bang average anyway and he was full of emotion after his first round win. Basilashvili can be very erratic but if he can catch fire for an hour he has the tools to get this done.
Women’s Betting
There is just the one bet I like in the women’s draw on Wednesday and it is on a favourite who I think should be an even bigger favourite than she is. That is Julia Goerges who takes on Ekaterina Makarova for the second time in as many weeks. The German thrashed her Russian foe 64 62 in New Haven last week despite serving atrociously for much of the match. You wouldn’t think she would serve as badly here but even if she does we know she can come through if her serve is letting her down.
I never think Makarova is especially at home in the heat. Her movement is never the best anyway and although the conditions will help her serve I think Goerges will used to combatting big serves. I would imagine the German will be more comfortable in these conditions and she can cover 2.5 games.
Daily Accumulator
It was another winning day for us in the daily accumulator section on Tuesday to make us 2 from 2 for those in the tournament with a profit of £101.59. Wednesday’s accumulator is another fivefold on a bunch of favourites who I expect to come through.
Milos Raonic win
Cameron Norrie win
Elise Mertens win
Kaia Kanepi win
Venus Williams win
£10 pays £60.80
Tips
Back S.Johnson to beat D.Thiem for a 4/10 stake at 2.38 with Coral
Back A.Seppi to beat D.Shapovalov for a 3/10 stake at 3.25 with Coral
Back them here:
WON – Back F.Verdasco to beat A.Murray for a 4/10 stake at 2.38 with 888sport
Back him here:
WON – Back N.Basilashvili to beat J.Sock for a 3/10 stake at 2.80 with William Hill
Back him here:
Back J.Goerges (-2.5 games) to beat E.Makarova for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Boylesports
Back her here:
Back Daily Accumulator at Unibet
Back it here:
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