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Well, we’re finally here. The final Grand Slam on the tennis calendar, the US Open, commences in Queens. Two stacked draws of men and women will take the court and vie for some life-changing money and ranking points, continuing with the second round on Wednesday and Thursday and taking us all the way into next Sunday.
Without further ado, let’s get into some picks.
Pablo Carreno-Busta (-323) vs. Alexander Bublik (+240)
If you don’t remember, these two have played some absolute bangers through the years. Every time that they’ve met the match has gone the distance, with their last encounter ending on a Bublik retirement in the third. So, while Carreno Busta owns the head-to-head 3-0, that couldn’t be more deceiving.
I expect Bublik to get his teeth into this one given that history and given his big serve should play up on these courts. The Kazakh has been past the first round two times in the last three years and always shows up when the prize money and the ranking points are at their highest.
Bublik should be a hard man to break, even for the in-form Carreno-Busta, and I think his imagination should make life very difficult on the simple-minded Spaniard, who plays very predictable tennis.
Edge: Bublik +5.5 Games
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Cristian Garin (+525) vs. Alex De Minaur (-834)
There’s absolutely no reason that Garin should be an underdog of these proportions after defeating Alex De Minaur in an epic five-setter just over a month ago at Wimbledon. That was close to a perfect situation for De Minaur, and on slightly slowed courts he should have a whale of a time getting through Garin.
The Chilean looked solid against Jiri Lehecka in his opening-round win, getting aggressive and taking it to the youngster. I expect a similar game here against the Australian, which should really keep him on the back foot.
The two play very similar styles, so it’s only fitting that this match would be an incredibly tight one. If not for the big serve of Lehecka, this first-round scoreline would have been incredibly lopsided. With the weak serve of De Minaur, this could get incredibly dicey for him with Garin in an excellent spot.
Edge: Garin +7.5 Games
