Pickswise’s U.S. Open Day 4 Free Tennis picks are here to get you through the remainder of second-round action! There has already been carnage in the men’s draw, where four top-10 players have already made their way out of the tournament. One of the results is a whole host of intriguing bets to be made as 16 more singles matches on both the men’s and women’s side take center stage.
Parlay: (29) Benoit Paire vs. Aljaz Bedene and Andrey Rublev vs. Gilles Simon
Paire is not exactly the most reliable of performers on the ATP Tour, but if he can ever be trusted it is right now. The 26th-ranked Frenchman is coming off a runner-up finish in Winston-Salem and he once reached the fourth round of the U.S. Open (2015). Moreover, he is 4-1 lifetime in the head-to-head series against Bedene with a current three-match winning streak. Speaking of players in fine form at the moment, Rublev is in the midst of an incredible summer. It is highlighted by a win over Roger Federer in Cincinnati, and he also knocked out world No. 8 Stefanos Tsitsipas on Tuesday in New York. Simon also won in four sets, but his match was even more difficult. The 34-year-old Frenchman needed a whopping four hours and 19 minutes to get past Bjorn Fratangelo. All signs point to the Russian winning this one without too much trouble.
Pick: Paire to win (-232) and Rublev to win (-275)
(14) John Isner vs. Jan-Lennard Struff
No matter that Isner leads the head-to-head series 3-0; those matches all came in 2016, back when Isner was at his peak and Struff was toiling away in relative obscurity. The tide has turned now, even though Isner still registers at a solid 14th in the rankings–23 places better than Struff. The 6’10” American missed three months of this season with a stress fracture and has struggled mightily upon his return aside from picking up a small title on the grass courts of Newport. The late-blooming Struff, on the other hand, is enjoying by far the best season of his career at 29 years old. He reached the fourth round at Roland Garros and is coming off a third-round performance in Cincinnati. Struff’s serve is almost as big as Isner’s and the underdog moves far better around the court. He is also far more confidence than Isner at the moment.
Pick: Struff to win (+115)
**Upset of the day** Vasek Pospisil vs. Tennys Sandgren
It was only a matter of time for Pospisil, who missed the entire first half of this year with a back injury before returning at Wimbledon. He suffered competitive losses to fellow Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime at both Wimbledon and the Rogers Cup in Montreal plus a three-set setback against Hyeon Chung (who is also in the U.S. Open second round) at a Challenger event in Vancouver. That progress was a sign of things to come, and those things came on Tuesday when Pospisil stunned No. 9 seed Karen Khachanov in five sets. Fortunately for Pospisil, Sandgren may also be somewhat fatigued after outlasting Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in a tough five-setter. Although that is a good win for the Americanas, at the same time it has to be said that Tsonga is a shadow of his former self at the moment. On a relatively fast surface, Pospisil should have the edge in this one–and getting him at +141 is a bonus.
Pick: Pospisil to win (+141)
**Best value of the day** (WC) Coco Gauff vs. Timea Babos
If Gauff was going to buckle under the U.S. Open pressure, it would have happened in the first round against a fellow up-and-comer Anastasia Potapova. The 18-year-old Russian, who is already up to No. 72 in the world, even took the first set against Gauff on Tuesday. Nonetheless, the 15-year-old American stormed back for a 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 victory. It is obvious this girl loves the big stage, as evidenced by her successful qualification at Wimbledon, first-round upset of Venus Williams, and eventual trip to the last 16. Gauff will definitely want a shot at top seed and defending champion Naomi Osaka in round three of this U.S. Open, and she should get it with only Babos standing in her way. Babos, who got a first-round retirement from an injured Carla Suarez Navarro, lost twice to players outside the top 260 in the world last month.
Pick: Gauff to win (-151)