The fourth round of the two singles draws in the US Open come to a close on what should be another wonderful day of tennis on the two show courts at Flushing Meadows in New York as we head towards the business end of the final Grand Slam of the year.
As with the opening of the last 16 on Sunday, we have a really good schedule on the two main courts to enjoy on Monday with the star names coming from the outset and keeping on coming right throughout the day.
Arthur Ashe Stadium
It is Labor Day in America on Monday and so the three remaining Americans on the side of the draws that are in action over the course of the day all compete on this course. One of them gets us underway when the leading ranked American female player Jessica Pegula meets the former Grand Slam champion Petra Kvitova. When they are done Rafael Nadal continues his quest to win Grand Slam title number 22 when he goes up against the second home player on show in Frances Tiafoe. The night session begins with the third American on show when Danielle Collins faces Aryna Sabalenka in a match which will see the ball experiencing a lot of pain. Monday concludes with the Spanish star Carlos Alcaraz going up against the 2014 champion Marin Cilic.
Louis Armstrong Stadium
There is a very good schedule taking place over on the Louis Armstrong Stadium as well and it starts with a really good looking men’s match between the sole remaining Briton left in the singles draws as Cameron Norrie takes on Andrey Rublev. When they are done it is the turn of the women to take centre stage as the world number one Iga Swiatek meets Jule Niemeier who is looking for back to back Grand Slam quarter final appearances. Two women who have played in finals of Grand Slams meet in the third match of the day when Victoria Azarenka meets Karolina Pliskova before the men round off the day when Jannik Sinner takes on Ilya Ivashka.
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Men’s Betting
I’ll go with one in the men’s draw on Monday and it comes right off the bat as Cameron Norrie takes on Andrey Rublev in a match where I think the schedule is going to go against the Russian player. He has twice gone five sets in this tournament so the last thing he needs is to be taking on a relentless Norrie at the best of times let along in the peak heat of the day where the humidity is set to be at its strongest. That feels like a tough ask to me.
Norrie has breezed through the draw so far without dropping a set. You could argue he hasn’t faced anyone of real note but you can only beat what is in front of you and the fact the Brit has done it smoothly and quickly can only benefit him, not that he needs to worry about his physicality. Norrie has really improved on a hard court, as he showed in Indian Wells last year, and I fancy he’ll have too much freshness for Rublev here. Rublev might be competitive in the early stages of this one but the longer it goes the more I like Norrie to wear him down and end up covering a 2.5 game handicap.
Women’s Betting
I’ll also go with one in the women’s draw and that also opens up the show but on the Arthur Ashe Stadium where the form of Petra Kvitova has to be respected even allowing for the fact that she is taking on a home player in Jessica Pegula. I like Pegula but for whatever reason her best tennis doesn’t tend to come out in the majors. That is something we can’t level at the Czech star as she has won Grand Slams and made more finals that she didn’t win.
Pegula came through in a deciding set in the last round and while the two sets she won were pretty comfortable the one she lost provided us with plenty of concerns. Kvitova also went the distance in the last round but she was taken there by a top class opponent in Garbine Muguruza and I really liked what Kvitova said afterwards about taking inspiration from Serena Williams and always fighting. We know she is a fighter anyway and Kvitova also has a 2-0 head to head lead on Pegula having beaten her in straight sets here two years ago and by the same margin in the Doha semi-final last year. Major form, fighting spirit and current form all points to Kvitova so that is where my money is heading.
Tips
Back C.Norrie (-2.5 games) to beat A.Rublev for a 3/10 stake at 1.85 with William Hill
Back him here:
Back P.Kvitova to beat J.Pegula for a 3/10 stake at 2.05 with Betway
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