The Labor Day weekend has arrived, and boy what a time it is. A nice end of summer long weekend, with plenty of tennis happening from New York City at the year's last Grand Slam event, the US Open.
Let's dive into a few matches that present a good opportunity to bet on from Saturday's slate!
Match times are subject to change. Read here for tips on viewing the US Open.
Marin Cilic (-180) vs. Daniel Evans (+150)
1:35 p.m. ET
We'll start with the match from the men's draw that intrigues for Saturday. Marin Cilic and Dan Evans square off for a spot in the final 16 and second week of the event, and it should be a dandy.
With contrasting styles in this one, it'll be a classic case of whoever can impose their style on the match and not let the opponent get comfortable.
Evans is much more likely to favor the longer rallies and backhand exchanges where he can keep that ball nice and low – out of the Cilic optimal strike zone. This would also allow him to wait for a return from Cilic that sits in an attackable position to put points away himself.
Consequently, Cilic will be reliant on that booming serve and potent forehand to win his points and he'll likely emerge victorious more often than not in exchanges on that wing from the baseline.
Ultimately, this one should see more than the minimum of three sets, and don't be surprised if we see some long sets to boot.
While Cilic is well-known for his big serve and propensity to hold, don't underestimate the Brit in that regard either. In 2022, Evans has managed to win about 75% of his points on first serve and a decent 50% behind his second serves.
With a close matchup and strong servers, to get a first set number of 9.5 at only -150 is enough to get me involved.
Pick: 1st set over 9.5 games (-150 via PointsBet)
Qinwen Zheng (-210) vs. Jule Niemeier (+170)
3:35 p.m. ET
For the women's match, it's a late afternoon tilt between Qinwen Zheng and Jule Niemeier that is most intriguing.
Zheng is one of the game's top prospects and she possesses a very well-rounded game, so it's hard to believe we're seeing a game spread below the -4 mark. Granted, it's a -115 price, but it's still a nice number nonetheless.
The German may have a strong first serve and forehand combo, but the impressive Chinese teenager that has ascended the rankings into the top-50 this season can go toe-to-toe in both of those departments, while also being more of a natural hard courter.
Equipped with the stronger return game as well, unless she's committing her fair share of double faults and unforced errors, Zheng should be pressuring the Niemeier serve far more often than she has to fend off break points in her own service games.
The gulf in talent and hard-court abilities between these two should be too much, so I'm more than comfortable giving the German a 3.5-game head start.
Pick: Zheng -3.5 (-115 via PointsBet)
