.Third-round action at the U.S. Open begins with a third-round showdown between Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe on Friday. Novak Djokovic and also Alexei Popyrin are likewise pursuing a location in the proverbial 2nd full week of the tournament.Here are my selections for 2 of Friday's best matches.( thirteen) Ben Shelton vs. (twenty) Frances Tiafoe.
It's a rematch of the final summer months's U.S. Open quarterfinals, and also this moment Shelton is available in along with some assumptions. In reality, he is actually the preferred versus Tiafoe-- which had not been the instance in 2023. Shelton was the underdog in their previous USA Open tilt, but he won it in 4 sets and also ended up being a surprise semifinalist who delighted The big apple crowds with his prosperous provide and also big-stage charm.
Each Shelton and also Tiafoe are participating in well currently. The previous appeared positive in his straight-set sway Roberto Bautista Agut on Wednesday. The 21-year-old created the quarterfinals at the Cincinnati Professional earlier this month. Tiafoe created it right to the Cincy final before catching Jannik Sinner.
Shelton is an excellent 2-0 in the head-to-head set. Look for it to become 3-0 when this one ends.
Pick: Shelton in 4( 28) Alexei Popyrin vs. (2) Novak DjokovicDjokovic and Popyrin are going to be actually squaring off at a third major in 2024 when they meet again on Friday. They likewise went head-to-head at the Australian Open and also Wimbledon, with Djokovic finishing the job in four sets both opportunities to confiscate an overall 3-0 lead in the H2H series. He also prevailed 6-4, 6-2 at the 2019 Tokyo activity.
As those reasonable Conquest runs into along with Djokovic suggest, Popyrin is participating in the greatest ping pong of his occupation this year-- as well as it is actually not even shut. He is up to 28th in the positions thanks partially to an Expert 1000 title in Montreal consequently far in NYC the Aussie has actually positively whipped both Soonwoo Kwon and Pedro Martinez. Regrettably for Stand Out, Djoker has won 18 sets in progression going back to the Olympics. The 24-time bang champ has certainly not given up a readied to anybody apart from Carlos Alcaraz considering that he shed one to none besides Popyrin in the Wimbledon 3rd round.
Pick: Djokovic in 3Ricky provides to 10sballs. com as well as likewise maintains his own tennis web site, The Grandstand. You may follow him on Twitter at @Dimonator.