The second round of both singles draws will conclude on what is expected to be yet another hot and steamy day at the US Open on Thursday. The New York climate shows no signs of cooling off but thankfully for us neither does the quality of tennis.
We have a wonderful cast list on show on Thursday with Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev, Marin Cilic, Caroline Wozniacki, Petra Kvitova and Angelique Kerber just some of the leading names in action on a cracking looking day.
Day 3 Recap
It was another dramatic day of tennis across the grounds on Wednesday but there were comfortable wins for Rafael Nadal, Kevin Anderson and Juan Martin del Potro who all came through without losing a set. Serena and Venus Williams followed their lead as did Elina Svitolina, Victoria Azarenka and Karolina Pliskova. Sloane Stephens came through in a deciding set.
It was a frustrating day for us betting wise. Our accumulator lost by one selection and two of our men’s bets lost in a deciding fifth set having led 2-1 when Steve Johnson and Andreas Seppi failed to get over the line. Fernando Verdasco and Nikoloz Basilashvili salvaged the day somewhat though with four set wins.
Arthur Ashe Stadium
Wimbledon champion Angelique Kerber is the first on show in the day session on Ashe on Thursday. She faces Johanna Larsson before the main man Roger Federer looks to make it through to the third round. He faces French maverick Benoit Paire in the day session in a match which has intrigue written all over it.
Novak Djokovic’s reward for suffering the tough conditions on Tuesday is a night session spot on Thursday. He opens up the evening play when he takes on Tennys Sandgren while Maria Sharapova is back under the lights on Ashe in the final match of the day. She faces the competent Sorana Cirstea.
Louis Armstrong Stadium
Petra Kvitova is first up on the secondary court. The former Wimbledon champion meets the Chinese player Yafan Wang in a match she will be expected to win before Alex Zverev continues his career under Ivan Lendl. He faces the big serving Nicolas Mahut before the day session is rounded off by Madison Keys facing Bernarda Pera in what many are touting as being the match of the day.
There is no doubt the pick of the men’s matches on Thursday opens up play in the evening session when Kei Nishikori faces Gael Monfils in what should be a really entertaining battle. Caroline Wozniacki meets Lesia Tsurenko in the final match of the day.
Grandstand
It is the women who get us going on the Grandstand too when the exciting Daria Kasatkina meets Aliaksandra Sasnovich before Caroline Garcia faces the Olympic champion Monica Puig in what looks a tasty looking clash. Two more entertainers follow them as Lucas Pouille goes up against Marcos Baghdatis before Marin Cilic meets Hubert Hurkacz to end play on this court.
Court 17
The action has been fantastic on this court all week and Thursday looks like it will be no different either. Naomi Osaka gets things going when she takes on Julia Glushko of Israel. Nick Kyrgios then steps onto the court to take on doubles specialist Pierre-Hugues Herbert before Eugenie Bouchard looks to continue her recent revival. She plays Marketa Vondrousova before two next gen stars meet to round off the day when Alex de Minaur takes on Frances Tiafoe.
Best of the Rest
As you would expect there are some tasty matches on the outside courts too with the likes of Fabio Fognini, Jelena Ostapenko and Richard Gasquet forming a decent schedule on Court 5 while Hyeon Chung, Kiki Bertens and David Goffin should keep the crowds entertained out on Court 10. Aryna Sabalenka and Diego Schwartzman are in action on Court 13 while semi-finalist 12 months ago Pablo Carreno Busta plays on Court 7.
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Men’s Betting
I’ll play three in the men’s draw on Thursday with the first bet coming in the form of Mikhail Kukushkin who is getting much too big a start out of Hyeon Chung. Chung was getting bashed up in the first round before the heat for too much for Berankis and the Korean is likely to be taken deep here too if he is good enough to get that far. For all his exploits at the beginning of the year, Chung has been slack since he returned from injury. I remember watching Kukushkin take care of Dimitrov here in the past and while he might not win this the evidence so far this week and recently tells me he can win a set which will keep him within 5.5 games.
One of the later matches of the day session sees two exciting talents going at it when Alex de Minaur takes on Frances Tiafoe. I fancy the Aussie will handle the heat a little better than the American. Tiafoe was just starting to feel it in the previous round when he finally got the better of Adrian Manarrino whereas de Minaur was on and off the court so quickly you would have missed him had you blinked. Bookmakers have this as a pick em but I’ll be picking the Aussie in this one.
In the big match in the night session it is hard not to like Gael Monfils with the 4.5 game start. Kei Nishikori will run all night but at the end of the day his serve is there to be swallowed up and Monfils isn’t short of energy in the running department. The last three meetings between these two have been decided in a final set tiebreak and I fully expect another close battle and one in which Monfils can ride the 4.5 games.
Women’s Betting
I’ll take two in the women’s draw too. Full credit goes to Caroline Garcia for her win over Jo Konta in the first round but it is hard to ignore her poor record in this tournament and I think she is vulnerable against Monica Puig who has been playing some decent stuff recently. She made the semi-final in New Haven last week before pulling out in that match but she showed in the first round that she is over whatever that issue was. She’ll handle the heat and I’m never truly comfortable with Garcia as a favourite. I’ll chance the Olympic champion here.
One of the best matches of the year on the WTA circuit was the quarter final in Charleston between Bernarda Pera and Madison Keys and they meet again on Thursday evening. That match was on clay but I don’t see much changing on hard courts and I’m expecting another tasty tussle. I have to say I was really impressed with Madison Keys in the first round but Pera showed enough to suggest she’ll trouble Keys for much of this match. Over 19.5 games looks the obvious pick here.
Daily Accumulator
Sadly Cameron Norrie let us down on Wednesday’s accumulator so we are 2-1 for the week with a profit of £91.59. Here is Thursday’s one with another set of favourites I think will win.
Sharapova win
Schwartzman win
Carreno Busta win
Ostapenko win
Kyrgios win
Krunic win
£10 pays £69.70
Tips
WON – Back M.Kukushkin (+5.5 games) to beat H.Chung for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Boylesports
WON – Back A.de Minaur to beat F.Tiafoe for a 4/10 stake at 1.91 with Boylesports
Back them here:
VOID – Back G.Monfils (+4.5 games) to beat K.Nishikori for a 4/10 stake at 1.98 with Unibet
Back him here:
Back M.Puig to beat C.Garcia for a 3/10 stake at 2.80 with BetVictor
Back her here:
Back B.Pera vs M.Keys – Over 19.5 games for a 4/10 stake at 1.91 with Betfair
Back it here:
Back Daily Accumulator at Coral
Back it here:
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