.Third-round activity at the USA Open begins with a third-round showdown between Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe on Friday. Novak Djokovic and Alexei Popyrin are actually additionally aiming for a place in the typical 2nd week of the tournament.Here are my picks for two of Friday's best matchups.( 13) Ben Shelton vs. (20) Frances Tiafoe.
It's a rematch of the last summer's U.S. Open quarterfinals, and this time around Shelton comes in along with some desires. As a matter of fact, he is the favored versus Tiafoe-- which wasn't the situation in 2023. Shelton was actually the longshot in their previous united state Open tilt, but he succeeded it in four collections as well as ended up being a surprise semifinalist that pleased New York groups along with his prosperous provide and big-stage charisma.
Both Shelton and Tiafoe are actually participating in properly at the moment. The past looked positive in his straight-set sway Roberto Bautista Agut on Wednesday. The 21-year-old created the quarterfinals at the Cincinnati Masters previously this month. Tiafoe made it completely to the Cincy last prior to succumbing to Jannik Evildoer.
Shelton is actually an excellent 2-0 in the head-to-head collection. Search for it to become 3-0 when this set points.
Decide on: Shelton in 4( 28) Alexei Popyrin vs. (2) Novak DjokovicDjokovic and Popyrin will be squaring off at a third major in 2024 when they reunite on Friday. They also went head-to-head at the Australian Open as well as Wimbledon, along with Djokovic finishing the job in 4 collections both opportunities to take possession of a total 3-0 top in the H2H set. He additionally prevailed 6-4, 6-2 at the 2019 Tokyo occasion.
As those reasonable Conquest experiences along with Djokovic suggest, Popyrin is participating in the very best tennis of his occupation this year-- as well as it's certainly not also finalize. He falls to 28th in the rankings thanks partially to a Masters 1000 headline in Montreal and so much in New York City the Aussie has actually completely thrashed both Soonwoo Kwon as well as Pedro Martinez. Sadly for Pop, Djoker has actually succeeded 18 sets in succession dating back to the Olympics. The 24-time bang champ has certainly not relinquished a readied to anybody besides Carlos Alcaraz due to the fact that he dropped one to none other than Popyrin in the Wimbledon 3rd shot.
Select: Djokovic in 3Ricky provides to 10sballs. com and also maintains his own tennis internet site, The Grandstand. You can observe him on Twitter at @Dimonator.