The quarter finals of the US Open conclude on Wednesday when the two matches in the top half of both the singles draws take place on what could be a huge day of tennis inside the Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York.
Eight players will set foot onto the famous court looking to book their spot in the semi-final over the next couple of days, as we draw closer to the conclusion of the final Grand Slam tournament of the year.
Day Session
Emma Raducanu vs Belinda Bencic
The action begins with the first of the two women’s quarter finals on the day as the riding British star Emma Raducanu puts her reputation on the line against the Olympic champion Belinda Bencic, who is looking to reach the semi-final for a second straight appearance having reached the last four in 2019 before sitting out the event last year.
Raducanu is in her first major quarter final here but she has been breaking into new territory all year and doesn’t appear to have slowed down at any stage so we shouldn’t necessarily look upon that as a negative, particularly as the teenage Brit can look at the exploits of Leylah Fernandez in the other half of the draw for inspiration. Raducanu hasn’t so much as dropped a set in this tournament and her campaign is seven matches old after she went through qualifying to get into it. She goes up against a formidable opponent for the first time here however. Bencic is not only seasoned at this level of Grand Slam tournaments but she arrives here in majestic form and confidence having won the Olympic gold medal last month. Furthermore, she is at home in these conditions and is set to lay down a proper challenge to the Briton. I expect this to be a match too far for Raducanu and Bencic should win this match. I hope that’s the case as I’m on her at 9/1 to do so having taken her for the quarter before a ball was hit. That’s my interest in this one.
Alexander Zverev vs Lloyd Harris
The men’s quarter final in the day session on Wednesday sees the other Olympic champion on show when the German star Alexander Zverev takes on the South African player Lloyd Harris who probably wouldn’t have been expected to reach this stage.
That isn’t to say that Harris doesn’t deserve to be here because he does. He has played great tennis in this tournament and seen off the likes of Denis Shapovalov and Reilly Opelka in the fine style. The win over Opelka will have tuned him up nicely but if there is a negative then it could come in the form that this is his first match on the Arthur Ashe Stadium and this is a whole different ball game in terms of magnitude to the other courts. Zverev has played all of his matches on this court and apart from a blitz of a set from Jack Sock in the fourth round, he has cruised into this quarter final. He looks so much assured on the big moments these days too which helps. Whether that is confidence or maturity who knows but it makes him hard to beat. I expect Zverev to win this. I wouldn’t be completely surprised if Harris runs him close but I like Zverev here. He is my outright pick though so I don’t need to get involved in this one either.
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Night Session
Karolina Pliskova vs Maria Sakkari
The night session gets underway with the last of the women’s quarter finals as the Wimbledon finalist Karolina Pliskova takes on the French Open semi-finalist Maria Sakkari in what is likely to be a match full of big hitting.
Sakkari came through an absolute epic in the last round going toe to toe with Bianca Andreescu and outlasting the Canadian and while that match will have toughened her up for what to expect here, the fact it took 3:30hrs to complete just has to be a negative. We saw with Carlos Alcaraz on Tuesday evening that a petrol tank can only be refilled so much in a short space of time. Pliskova has no worries on that front. She has only dropped one bet in the tournament which was in the second round so she will have recovered from that and she looks in sparkling form. Since Wimbledon, Pliskova has made the final in Montreal and the semi-final in Cincinnati with Paula Badosa and Aryna Sabalenka among her victims. She has perfect conditions here and has to be considered a worthy favourite to win this one.
Novak Djokovic vs Matteo Berrettini
The last of the quarter final matches at the US Open this year is actually a rerun of the Wimbledon final of a couple of months ago where Novak Djokovic continues his chase for a place in history when he takes on the dangerous and classy Italian star Matteo Berrettini in a mouth-watering clash.
Djokovic won that Wimbledon final in four sets, as he did their quarter final clash at the French Open prior to that, but it might just be that Berrettini has the optimum conditions from which to extract some revenge here. Although slightly negated by this match being at night, the Berrettini serve will be a potent force on this fast court and the weapons he has in behind it can be equally as destructive. There were certainly signs that Djokovic could be got after during his entertaining win over Jenson Brooksby, who for an hour and 45 minutes was giving just as good as he was getting until his legs went so that will give the Italian encouragement. I expect Berrettini to be competitive here at the very least and although I would imagine Djokovic will win still the fact the Italian has claimed a set off him in less suitable conditions makes me think the 10/11 he does that here is a good bet.
Tips
Back K.Pliskova to beat M.Sakkari for a 3/10 stake at 1.73 with Betfair
Back her here:
Back M.Berrettini to win a set for a 3/10 stake at 1.91 with Bet365
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