US Open Day 1 Best Bets & Predictions: 3 Picks for August 30
The U.S. Open, the fourth and final Grand Slam of the tennis season, gets underway on Sunday. Novak Djokovic, Daniil Medvedev, Jessica Pegula and Venus Williams are among those taking the court.
Here are the best bets for Day 1 in New York City. Also check out my outright plays on both the men’s and women’s sides.
Parlay: Alex Michelsen ML over Federico Cina and Thiago Agustin Tirante ML over Adrian Mannarino and (-141)
Cina is coming off two very difficult matches in U.S. Open qualifying. The 19-year-old Italian is probably most comfortable on clay and, until now, has never played in the main draw of a Grand Slam outside of Roland Garros. Michelsen has advanced at least one round in seven of his last eight tournaments. Meanwhile, Tirante has been on fire during the summer hard-court swing. The huge-hitting Argentine scored victories over Djokovic, Taylor Fritz and Jakub Mensik en route to the fourth round in Montreal and the quarterfinals in Cincinnati. It is a much different story for Mannarino, who is 3-8 in his last 11 matches dating back to Queen’s Club. The 38-year-old is on a three-match losing streak and all three of those losses have come in straight sets.
Hanne Vandewinkel ML over Karolina Pliskova (-110)
Credit Pliskova for still plugging away on tour at 34 years old, but the end of the road may be coming sooner rather than later. Although the Czech is 16-7 on the natural surfaces -- clay and grass -- in 2026, she is a mere 5-5 on hard courts. Since Wimbledon, Pliskova has not defeated anyone other than Oleksandra Oliynykova (that’s not exactly a good win for those wondering). Vandewinkel is in much better form, as the 22-year-old Belgian is 11-2 in her last 13 matches. No matter that almost all of those have come at a lower level -- wins are wins. Vandewinkel is 26-7 on hard courts this season.
Kamil Majchrzak ML over Hamad Medjedovic (-125)
Pliskova is close to an automatic fade, and Medjedovic is even closer. The 23-year-old Serb caught a bad virus back in June and has not been the same since. He is on a four-match losing streak and has not won a match since before Wimbledon. There probably aren't many players in the entire draw whom Medjedovic would beat. Majchrzak has advanced at least one round in four of the last five majors, including the fourth round of Wimbledon in 2025 and the third round of the U.S. Open two months later.
