We have reached the third round stage of the two singles draws at the US Open and that gets underway on all the main courts in New York on Friday as we head towards the end of the first week of the final Grand Slam of the year.
Seeing that we are at the third round stage it means that for the first time this week the seeded players can face each other and we have a few all-seed matches to enjoy over the course of what looks a tasty day of tennis.
Arthur Ashe Stadium
One of those all-seeded matches gets us underway on the main court on Friday when the finalist of last year, Victoria Azarenka, meets the former Grand Slam winner Garbine Muguruza in what looks like an epic of a contest to open up the day session. That day session closes with the controversial Stefanos Tsitsipas in third round action. He’ll be bidding to reach the second week here for the first time when he takes on the talented Spanish player Carlos Alcaraz.
The defending champion in the women’s draw starts out the night session on Friday evening and a Friday in New York will bring a huge crowd with it to see Naomi Osaka face the young Canadian star Leylah Fernandez. The action concludes with a very good looking men’s match as the fifth seed Andrey Rublev taking on the home star Frances Tiafoe in a match which might have a little bit of beef to it if the comments of Tiefoe after his win in the last round are anything to go by.
Louis Armstrong Stadium
There is a cracking schedule on the Louis Armstrong Stadium on Friday and it gets underway with two big hitting women as Elena Rybakina goes up against the former French Open and Wimbledon champion Simona Halep. When they are done the number two seed Daniil Medvedev returns to the court where he failed to endear himself to the New York crowd two years ago. He takes on Pablo Andujar before the day session concludes with arguably the pick of the women’s matches on the day as two format champions meet when Angelique Kerber takes on Sloane Stephens.
The night session on this part of the Flushing Meadows complex is equally as lit and it begins with a very good looking men’s match between Roberto Bautista Agut and Felix Auger-Aliassime in a contest which could be an extended one if both play to their best. The action doesn’t end there either as the women’s match in the night session will be brutal on the tennis ball as the number two seed Aryna Sabalenka faces the home star Danielle Collins.
Grandstand
There is a full set of singles matches over the course of the day over on the Grandstand with two unseeded players getting us going when Henri Laaksonen takes on Peter Gojowczyk. When they are done the women’s French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova will be out on court when she meets the lowly ranked Kamilla Rakhimova before the pick of the matches on this court takes place as Elina Svitolina bids to make the second week here once again. In order to do that she’ll have to beat Daria Kasatkina. Diego Schwartzman is given the task of rounding off the action when he takes on Alex Molcan.
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Court 17
The only other court to have singles action on it on Friday is Court 17 but we have to wait a while for it to get underway because it is a doubles match which starts the play. When that is done we have the remaining three singles matches beginning with the British interest on the day as Dan Evans meets the Australian player Alexei Popyrin. When they are done there is a huge chance for two lowly ranked players as Botic van de Zandschulp takes on Facundo Bagnis. We finish up on this court with two seeded women meeting when Elise Mertens takes on Ons Jabeur.
Men’s Betting
Two bets jump out at me in the men’s draw on Friday with the first of those involving taking on the last British man who is left in the competition in Dan Evans. He meets Alexei Popyrin who I think has the tools to push Evans to the limit and ultimately get the better of him in the end. Evans has done well to see off Thiago Monteiro and Marcus Giron so far in this tournament but he’s been breaks down in most of the sets in those matches whether he has won them or lost them. I’m not convinced he can afford to fall behind in sets against Popyrin who has enough pop on his serve in these conditions to get the job done. Popyrin was well on his way to victory over Dimitrov in the last round before the Bulgarian went lame and at odds against he looks a good bet to see off Evans despite the Brit beating him at Queens recently.
The other bet I like is for the exciting Spanish player Carlos Alcaraz to push Stefanos Tsitsipas close. This is a big afternoon for Tsitsipas. He’s under all sorts of pressure off the court for the ridiculous length of time he spends away from the playing arena during his matches and he’ll be looking to make the second week for the first time here. Alcaraz is playing without a huge amount to lose here. He’s already built on his ranking with the two wins he’s had so far and now gets a free shot at a great player on a huge show court. Tsitsipas hasn’t made things easy for himself this week having to go five sets in extreme conditions against Andy Murray and couldn’t even get the job done in straight sets against Adrian Mannarino. That all gives hope to the Spaniard that he could cause the upset in this match. I don’t think he will but I think he has enough weapons to stay within 6.5 games of the Greek star here.
Women’s Betting
There are two I like in the women’s draw on Friday as well with the first of those coming in the match between Angelique Kerber and Sloane Stephens, two women who have both lifted this title before. It is the latter that I like in this match mainly for the reason that she has won the last five meetings between the two. This is a good matchup for Stephens who can defend when she needs to but probably has the bigger weapons, which on this court could be the difference. We saw Dayana Yastremska push Kerber to the limit in the opening round and I think Stephens has more about her than the young Ukrainian. Stephen has already done me a turn this week in beating Coco Gauff and with her form looking pretty good to me I’ll take her as the outsider in a match she should be going into with her confidence sky high.
The other bet I like in the women’s draw comes from the night session where Danielle Collins looks overpriced to dump Aryna Sabalenka out of the competition. I’m still concerned at the amount of errors the Belarussian makes as she goes all out to win points and I’m not sure she’ll have the time that she requires to unload on her shots because Collins can hit a pretty clean ball. Collins was a winner in San Jose not so long ago so we know she relishes these conditions and I think her groundstrokes might be a little cleaner in this match. Collins has beaten Halep, Stephens and Rybakina on hard courts recently so big hitters hold no fear for her whereas I always worry for Sabalenka whenever she ends up in a tight match. She doesn’t seem to get over the line in the big matches enough. Throw in the home support and Collins looks a big price here.
Tips
Back A.Popyrin to beat D.Evans for a 3/10 stake at 2.00 with Coral
Back him here:
Back C.Alcaraz (+6.5 games) to beat S.Tsitsipas for a 3/10 stake at 1.91 with William Hill
Back him here:
Back S.Stephens to beat A.Kerber for a 3/10 stake at 2.30 with BetVictor
Back her here:
Back D.Collins to beat A.Sabalenka for a 3/10 stake at 2.75 with Boylesports
Back her here:
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