The second day of quarter final action at the US Open takes place inside the Arthur Ashe Stadium on Wednesday and once the four matches have been completed we will know the identity of the semi-finalists in the singles draws.
The standard in this tournament has been excellent and when you look down the schedule on Wednesday it would be foolish to expect anything different from occurring. We should be entertained in the day and night.
Day Session
Karolina Pliskova vs Aryna Sabalenka
With the women’s semi-finals on Thursday the two sessions on Wednesday open with the women and the day session sees the former Wimbledon finalist Karolina Pliskova taking on the big hitting Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka for a place in the last four.
These two women both had good wins in the last round. Pliskova saw off Victoria Azarenka in an absolute cracker while Sabalenka came from a set down to get the better of Danielle Collins and both look primed for a seriously good contest here. Pliskova is moving so well at the minute and she is serving well too so she has the foundations to go very well here but Sabalenka might feel like she is free rolling after escaping from a set and 5-1 down to Kaia Kanepi earlier in the tournament. The only thing that can be guaranteed here is that the ball is going to take an absolute pounding but as for a winner that is a little less easier to predict so I’ll leave this opener for the day alone.
Andrey Rublev vs Frances Tiafoe
The opening quarter final for the men on Wednesday sees the man who got the better of Rafael Nadal in Frances Tiafoe going up against an Andrey Rublev who has come through the draw without any sort of recognition at all.
Rublev hasn’t played on Arthur Ashe Stadium yet which has to be a negative but the fact that he has beaten Denis Shapovalov and Cameron Norrie in the last two rounds tells us he is playing well. Tiafoe was excellent against Nadal but the Spanish legend was a million miles below his best and you could see what beating Nadal meant to the American, and rightly so. He’ll have the crowd right behind him and that might be significant but I think Rublev has been around long enough not to worry about that. I opposed Rublev in the previous round based on the five-setter he had against Shapovalov but he looked fresh as a daisy and played his best match of the tournament. Tiafoe beat Rublev in a fifth set here last year but Rublev got the better of the American in Indian Wells. I think the Russian is the better player of the two here and while the Big Foe win over Nadal has to be respected I think he has to play better here to win this. That isn’t necessarily guaranteed to happen because that win on Monday was so emotional. I’m not suggesting Tiafoe will definitely be flat but even if he isn’t Rublev is the better player for me and I like him here.
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Night Session
Iga Swiatek vs Jessica Pegula
The opening match of the night session sees two class acts going at it when the world number one Iga Swiatek looks to make it into her second Grand Slam semi-final of the year when she goes up against the American star Jessica Pegula.
Swiatek has made it through the draw but we haven’t seen her at her deadly best in this tournament and she was incredibly lucky to come through the challenge of Jule Niemeier in the previous round from a set and a break down. The German fell apart with the winning line in sight although to be fair to Swiatek she did improve a lot in the deciding set. Pegula had no such issues in overcoming Petra Kvitova in her last 16 clash. She was a break down in the second set but breezed through from there against a Czech player who was disappointing but still needed putting away. Pegula looked a lot better in that match than previous ones though and unless there is a serious improvement in Swiatek I think Pegula wins this match. Even if there is an improvement she has made no secret of her dislike of the balls used in this tournament and the packed crowd against her might not help either. Pegula is overpriced here in my eyes.
Jannik Sinner vs Carlos Alcaraz
The last of the quarter finals on Wednesday night sees two of the best young talents in the game going at it when the Italian sensation Jannik Sinner takes on the Spanish superstar Carlos Alcaraz in what should be an extremely entertaining match.
Both these men went five sets deep into Monday night. In fact it was almost 2.30am when Alcaraz finally polished off Marin Cilic and you have to wonder how the two have recovered from those exertions. They are both young but tennis players can’t just finish and then go to sleep there is all sorts of post-match things to do and you wouldn’t think either would have been in bed until deep into the early hours of the morning. Whoever does recover the best might well be the one to come out on top here but if there are no physical or tiredness issues for either it might be significant that Sinner has won the last two matches between these two. This just feels like it is one to watch and enjoy rather than bet and then find your man hasn’t recovered how he needed to and offers up little chance.
Tips
Back A.Rublev to beat F.Tiafoe for a 3/10 stake at 1.91 with William Hill
Back him here:
Back J.Pegula to beat I.Swiatek for a 3/10 stake at 3.00 with Bet365
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