The second round wraps up at the US Open on Thursday from New York City. With that said, let's delve into a pair of matches from the women's singles draw.
Here are my bets for Osaka vs Muchova and Shnaider vs Tauson in my US Open picks from the women's draw at the US Open tennis tournament.
Match times are subject to change. Read here for advice on viewing US Open matches.
US Open Picks
Naomi Osaka (-137) vs Karolina Muchova (+114)
7:15 p.m. ET
After hitting Jelena Ostapenko off the court in the opening round and proving that she's still a force when it comes to hard court major, Osaka is not nearly big enough of a favorite in the second round against Muchova.
Sure, Muchova has an all-court game that possesses both some pop and variety, but she's physically unreliable and her game is far too often error prone for my liking. Playing someone like Osaka, you simply can't afford to have loose service games and we see it from the Czech far too often.
I'm not sure if Osaka goes unbroken in this match, but just like last round she's the far more likely candidate of the two players on court to hold serve consistently and without much fuss.
I'll take her to move into the third round and don't hate laying the games either.
Pick: Osaka ML (-137 via DraftKings)
Diana Shnaider (-400) vs Clara Tauson (+310)
11 a.m. ET
Tauson isn't anywhere near the level physically she needs to be right now to be competing week-in, week-out on the WTA Tour, much less against someone like Shnaider.
This match features two big hitting young guns, but Shnaider is in much better form, is much more trustworthy from a physical standpoint and the latter point is only going to be amplified by the conditions in New York this week.
Tauson's last four losses have come by an average of 7.5 games, while her first round tilt saw her sneak by a lesser server and volatile clay courter in Anna Karolina Schmiedlova in three sets from 1-6, 1-2* down.
Those lopsided set losses should play right into Shnaider's hands. The aggressive lefty has put together a nice summer on the hard courts so far and has been generous in dishing out bagels and breadsticks to opponents from Toronto to Cincinnati to New York City.
It may seem like a lot of games to lay against a decent server, but given the form, conditions and ruthless nature of Shnaider's aggressive game, I'm happy to do it in this spot.
Pick: Shnaider -4.5 games (-108 via BetRivers)
