The second round of the US Open singles draws finishes on Thursday when another exciting day of action is played out across the courts at Flushing Meadows in New York. This is the last time the seeded players can avoid each other so the tournament is beginning to pick up now.
We are still to have a major shock in the men’s draw but that isn’t the case in the women’s draw so the likes of Serena Williams, Sofia Kenin and Madison Keys will need to be wary that they don’t become the latest big name casualty.
Day 3 Recap
It was a day where the big names struggled in the main on Wednesday. Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev and David Goffin all dropped sets on their way to victory in the men’s draw while we lost the number one seed in the women’s section when Karolina Pliskova was dumped out in emphatic style. There was serene progress for Naomi Osaka and Petra Kvitova on a day where the drama was kept to a minimum which was a bit of a surprise.
We finally got our first winner of the tournament on Wednesday but it was another poor day for us betting wise with three losers to go with it. We had to wait until the last bet of the day for that winner as Madison Brengle didn’t just cover her 5.5 game handicap against Dayana Yastremska but she actually won the match. The less said about the other bets the better but at least we have something to build on now.
Arthur Ashe Stadium
The number two seed and Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin has the honour of starting up play on the Arthur Ashe Stadium court on Thursday when she meets the Canadian teenager Leylah Fernandez before the second seed on the men’s side of things, Dominic Thiem, will continue his quest to make it into another Grand Slam final. He will go up against the relatively unknown Indian player Sumit Nagal in a match the Austrian is a heavy favourite to win.
The night session sees the stars come out once again and there is no bigger star on show than Serena Williams. She will look to move into the third round at the expense of Margarita Gasparyan before the two marathon men from Tuesday take centre stage when Felix Auger-Aliassime meets Andy Murray in a match that could well be literally the survival of the fittest. That rounds off the day on Ashe.
Louis Armstrong Stadium
Two young American players start off the action out on the Louis Armstrong Stadium when Amanda Anisimova takes on the teenage rising star Katrina Scott before we have a battle of the Canadians when big servers Vasek Pospisil goes up against the Cincinnati finalist Milos Raonic for a place in the last 32. The 2017 champion Sloane Stephens then takes centre stage on this court when she continues her bid for another title with a clash against Olga Govortsova. The beaten finalist of last year is then in action when Daniil Medvedev meets Christopher O’Connell on the court where the Russian annoyed so many last year. A very good looking day on Armstrong concludes with the Cincinnati champion Viktoria Azarenka taking on her compatriot Aryna Sabalenka in the pick of the matches on the women’s side on Thursday.
Court 17
Garbine Muruguza has the early shift out on Court 17 on Thursday morning. She meets Tsvetana Pironkova in a match that could get intriguing. Andrey Rublev then looks to continue his path towards the second week of the draw when he meets Grergoire Barrere before the semi-finalist of 12 months ago Matteo Berrettini is back on court to face the French youngster Ugo Humbert. The action concludes on this court with Madison Keys facing up against the Spanish player Aliona Bolsova.
Best of the Rest
As ever there are some big names dotted around the grounds on Thursday and Court 5 has plenty of them. Karen Khachanov is first up on that court while British fans will be looking forward to seeing Jo Konta. Another Brit follows her when Dan Evans is in action. Elsewhere, Alex de Minaur and Elise Mertens are out on Court 11 while Karolina Muchova and Donna Vekic are among those on the outside courts for us to watch on the streams.
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Men’s Betting
I’ll go with a couple of bets in the men’s draw on Thursday. The first one is to take on Karen Khachanov. I did this on Tuesday and I was counting my chips when Jannik Sinner went 2-0 up without any trouble from his opponent but then he suddenly couldn’t move and spent the rest of the match on one leg and still took it to a final set tiebreak. There was absolutely nothing to like about Khachanov in that match and he had treatment on his shoulder so he might not be fully fit. He didn’t look interested at all and has to be taken on here. Andrey Kuznetsov is getting 5.5 games here and when you think he’s dumped one big server out in straight sets this week that is probably a game or two too many. We only need Kuznetsov to win a set and be competitive for this to land but if he is that competitive, which he should be unless Khachanov improves dramatically, then he could stay within 5.5 games in a straight sets defeat.
The other bet I like on Thursday is for Emil Ruusuvuori to cover 2.5 games against Casper Ruud. Both these men went five sets on Tuesday but Ruud was well and truly on his way out before Mackenzie McDonald picked up an injury and even then there wasn’t a great deal that was convincing about his win. The Finnish youngster went the distance with Aljaz Bedene in the first round but it was a good effort to come through that match and outlast the Slovenian to win 6-1 in the decider. Ruud is purely a clay courter and I don’t expect him to enjoy the conditions here. Ruusuvuori beat Dominic Thiem in straight sets in the David Cup last year, albeit in a tie Austria had already won, and he has been making the finals and winning a lot of Challenger events on a hard court. The Finn is up in class here but I think he comes through this.
Women’s Betting
There is very little that I like the look of on Thursday in the women’s draw but I can’t ignore a play on the Cincinnati champion Viktoria Azarenka to beat her fellow Belarusian player Aryna Sabalenka. Sabalenka is seeded fifth for this tournament but we have to make reference to the huge issues she is having with her serve and as a result she hasn’t looked great at all since lockdown. Sabalenka only won two matches in Lexington and Cincinnati and needed three sets to do that and she wasn’t particularly convincing in the first round here.
I said in my outright preview that until the price collapsed on Azarenka in light of her winning last week that the former Australian Open champion was going to be my bet in this half of the draw to win the tournament. I didn’t back her outright but I’m happy to back her here as I believe she should be a fairly warm favourite. These two met in the first round here a year ago and Sabalenka won in three sets but Azarenka is playing much better now and I expect her to win this.
Daily Accumulator
We haven’t had any joy with our daily accumulators yet this week but we will get involved once again on Thursday in the hope of putting that right. We’ll go with a fivefold.
De Minaur win
Evans win
Millman win
Kenin win
Jabeur win
£5 returns £30.28
Tips
Back A.Kuznetsov (+5.5 games) to beat K.Khachanov for a 3/10 stake at 2.10 with Betfred
VOID – Back E.Ruusuvuori (-2.5 games) to beat C.Ruud for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Boylesports
Back Daily Accumulator at Boylesports
Back them here:
WON – Back V.Azarenka to beat A.Sabalenka for a 3/10 stake at 1.95 with BetVictor
Back her here:
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