Ricky Dimon
Fourth-round competition at the U.S. Open gets underway on Sunday in New York, where Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic, Taylor Fritz, Aryna Sabalenka, Jessica Pegula and Elena Rybakina are among those taking the court. Fritz is flying the American flag in the bottom half of the men’s draw following some rough results for the host nation on Friday.
Here are my favorite bets for Day 8.
Parlay: Jessica Pegula ML over Ann Li and Elena Rybakina ML over Marketa Vondrousova (-120)
Pegula was the 2024 U.S. Open runner-up and her encore performance is off to a great start. The American has been dominant through 3 rounds, including a straight-set beatdown of 2-time finalist Vitoria Azarenka on Friday. Li is playing well, but she has to be somewhat fatigued after reaching the Houston final right before arriving in New York. Rybakina should also take care of business without too much trouble. The Kazakh has not dropped a set through 3 matches and just 1 set has been more competitive than 6-3. She clobbered 2021 U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu 6-1, 6-2 on Friday. Vondrousova is a difficult fourth-round foe, but the Czech lefty is not in the same form as when she won Wimbledon in 2023 and an outdoor hard court is less favorable for her than it is for Rybakina.
Adrian Mannarino +5.5 games over Jiri Lehecka (-135)
Mannarino got a retirement from Ben Shelton after 4 sets in the third round. The 37-year-old probably wouldn’t have won otherwise, but even going toe-to-toe with Shelton in a tight 4-setter is no small feat. Mannarino is playing great. Prior to facing Shelton, the French scored routine victories over Tallon Griekspoor and Jordan Thompson. Lehecka is also playing in the U.S. Open fourth round for the first time in his career, so it’s not like the 23-year-old Czech has a bunch of experience on this kind of stage. This also doesn’t seem like a good matchup for him. Mannarino gets a ton of balls back and loves using opponents’ pace to generate his own. Lehecka has never exactly been a consistent player; he is a ball basher who can make a lot of errors. Mannarino will probably force him to do just that.
Taylor Townsend ML over Barbora Krejcikova (+120)
Townsend is playing inspired tennis, especially in the wake of a controversial incident with Jelena Ostapenko that went viral earlier this week. The left-hander came back out like gangbusters on Friday night, upsetting #5 seed Mirra Andreeva in easy straight sets. Thus continues an outstanding run of form for Townsend in both singles and doubles. She is brimming with confidence. Krejcikova is a 2-time Grand Slam champion (2021 French Open, 2024 Wimbledon), but her current season has been marred by injury. Now the Czech has to bounce back from a tough 3-set match against Emma Navarro on Friday. This is a nice upset opportunity for the American in front of what is sure to be a raucous crowd.
