US Open Day 5 Best Bets & Predictions: 3 Picks for September 3
Second-round action at the U.S. Open continues on Thursday, September 3, with Alexander Zverev, Taylor Fritz, Coco Gauff and Iga Swiatek among those taking the court. Here are the US Open best bets to be made on Day 5 in New York City. Following a 3-0 effort on Wednesday, let’s keep the momentum rolling!
US Open Best Bet: Zachary Svajda ML over Arthur Gea (-125)
Gea was clobbered by Nishesh Basavareddy 6-3, 6-1 in the final round of U.S. Open qualifying. After getting a lucky-loser spot in the main draw, the Frenchman required five sets to get past clay-court specialist Juan Manuel Cerundolo. None of those results are encouraging.
Svajda, who had no trouble beating Daniel Altmaier in round one, reached the French Open fourth round this spring before losing to eventual finalist Flavio Cobolli in four tight sets. The American is not afraid of the big stage of a major tournament, and he should also benefit from home-court advantage.
US Open Best Bet: Jan-Lennard Struff +3.5 games over Francisco Cerundolo (-110)
The North American hard-court swing is surely Cerundolo's least favorite time of year. He does his best work on the natural surfaces (clay and grass). Nowhere outside of the Miami Open has he ever done anything on a hard court. The Argentine is especially hopeless at the U.S. Open, where he has never reached the third round in five previous trips. In stops at Los Cabos, Montreal and Cincinnati earlier this summer, Cerundolo won just a single match -- and that was via retirement. He defeated Filip Misolic on Tuesday, but that was Misolic’s first match since February. Yes, the Austrian had been out even longer than Carlos Alcaraz!
Meanwhile, Struff is a decent 10-10 lifetime in the U.S. Open main draw with victories over Frances Tiafoe, Casper Ruud and Holger Rune. He advanced to the fourth round last year.
US Open Best Bet: Benjamin Bonzi ML over Ignacio Buse (+122)
Bonzi came up short in a three-set contest against Buse in the Winston-Salem quarterfinals last week, but that could be a blessing in disguise for the veteran Frenchman heading into the rematch. He got more rest - both mental and physical - than the Peruvian prior to arriving in New York. Additionally, Buse needed five sets to defeat Marcos Giron on Wednesday. That was his second Grand Slam match victory in his entire career (qualifying included).
On the other hand, Bonzi has twice advanced to the third round of both the U.S. Open and the Australian Open – and he took down Daniil Medvedev last year at Flushing Meadows.
