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In the afternoon and evening slates of the U.S. Open, the volume of matches aren't as hefty, but there are a couple of matches that our staff is betting.
Let's get right into it.
All match times are subject to change, and likely will due to weather delays.
Roberto Bautista-Agut (-225) vs. Emil Ruusuvuori (+175)
1:00 p.m. ET
Kenny Ducey: I totally understand why so many have fallen in love with Ruusuvuori this season, and I think it’s incredibly warranted. The young man has risen to No. 66 in the world and continues to dominate hard courts all across the globe, going 20-10 on the surface this year to bring his career mark to 81-30. He had a huge upset win over Alex Zverev in Miami and reached the semifinals just last week in Winston-Salem.
That’s all well and good, but Bautista-Agut is a different animal. We have seen several times what happens to Ruusuvuori when he steps on the court against an elite opponent — things just don’t work out the way he plans. Even in Winston-Salem, he was overpowered by perhaps the hottest man on tour in Ilya Ivashka.
RBA won’t overpower anyone, but he is one of the most precise and consistent players on tour. He will force Ruusuvuori, who can be error-prone, into a host of them. I was very bearish on the Spaniard entering the final Grand Slam of the year due to some recent poor play, but a week off seems to have refreshed him. Against Nick Kyrgios, he looked as sharp as ever, and most impressively he was serving his face off.
If RBA can serve like he did against Kyrgios, only a few men can stop him these next two weeks. Even without that type of performance, Bautista-Agut appears to be back in shape and a guy we can back with confidence. He should win this match handily.
Pick: Roberto Bautista Agut -1.5 sets -110 (DraftKings)
Kevin Anderson (+190) vs. Diego Schwartzman (-250)
7:00 p.m ET
Avery Zimmerman: This match couldn't represent more of a dichotomy of the types of players you have on tour.
On one side of the court you'll have the behemoth South African, who stands a couple inches away from seven feet and likes to play short points behind his big serve and forehand.
On the other side of the court is Diego Schwartzman. The Argentinian is more than a foot shorter than Anderson, and the duo reflect the complexity of the game. Schwartzman doesn't have a big serve, but his ground strokes are there with the best of the tour.
Schwartzman is also one of the best returners on tour, which will be crucial to his chances against Anderson. If he isn't able to get a significant number of returns in play, he is going to struggle to keep up with Anderson due to the number of free points the big server can generate.
Ultimately, if Anderson's serve is firing, he's going to make life extremely difficult for Schwartzman, who won't be able to return the favor on his own serve. When points get lengthy, the edge goes to Schwartzman, but Anderson will go for broke in a number of scenarios, refraining from letting points get to that situation.
With the type of price being put on Anderson, I absolutely have to give him a look.
Pick: Kevin Anderson +190 (FanDuel)
