TENNIS U.S. Open Second Week Overview

It’s not the same old, same old in the men’s U,S, Open quarterfinals, as gone are defending champion (and second-seed) Novak Djokovic and No. 3 seed (2022 champion) Carlos Alcaraz.
Djokovc lost to No. 28 Alexi Popyrin, that after Alcaraz was stunned in straight sets by unseeded Botic van de Zandschulp. 

There hasn’t been a back-to-back champ since Roger Federer’s five in a row (2004-08) titles. 

As of this Monday writing, there’s two quarterfinal pairings on the F\ushing Meadows Tuesday schedule. Then, we’ll have the full qualifiers at our disposal after tonight. 

Here’s a look at the current board, according to U.S. Open tennis odds. 

No. 9 Grigor Dimitrov vs. No. 20 Francis Tiafoe

Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria, seeded ninth in the tournament, is the 2-3 (-150) wagering choice against the 20th-ranked American Francis Tiafoe. Tiafoe is 6-5 (+120)

Tiafoe eliminated 28th-seeded Alexei Popyrin, who disposed of Novak Djokovic in four sets. Tiafoe needed four sets to defeat Popyrin.

Dimitrov had wins over unseeded Tallon Griekspoor (straight sets) and No. 5 Andrey Rublev (five sets). He was terrific against Griekspoor, but inconsistent in the match against Rublev. Dimitrov had a two-set lead, but was taken to a fifth and deciding set before advancing.

Dimitrov and Tiafoe met at Wimbledon in 2023. Dimitrov defeated Tiafoe then, 3-1 against that foe overall.

Tiafoe has a strong serve while proving that he could handle the hardest server (No. 13 Ben Shelton). Dimitrov’s sloppiness against Rublev included 12 double faults and 67 unforced errors.

Tiafoe is playing some excellent tennis at the Open, worth a look as the underdog in this match.  

No. 12 Taylor Fritz vs. No. 4 Alexander Zverev

American Taylor Fritz, the No. 12 seed, has never made it as far as the Grand Slam semifinal round. He has a chance against the fourth-seeded German Alexander Zverev.

Fritz is the first American to make the round of 16 in all four calendar majors since Andrew Agassi in 2003. He hasn’t taken that next step.

Fritz lost to Carlos Alcaraz at the ‘23 U.S. Open, which wasn’t surprising. Playing with good fortune in 2024, he hasn’t faced Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic. Danil Medvedev and Jannik Sinner.

Fritz didn’t lose a set in the first three rounds of this tournament. He fell to No. 8 Casper Rudd in the first set in round 4, then turned it around to win the next three sets and the match.

Zverev, meanwhile. has had to work in this event. It took him four sets to beat Maximilian Marterer in the first round before another four to knock off Tomas Marin Etcheverry in the third round, both of those being unseeded opponents

His latest victory came against another unseeded opponent in Brandon Nakashima. Zverev lost the first set before winning the next three.

Zverev is 5-4 against Fritz all-time. It was Fritz defeating Zverev in five tight sets at Wimbledon (fourth round, 2024). Zverez is the -145 favorite in this match, but with the crowd on the side of Fritz, consider him at +115 to finally get through to the semis. 

Now, the Women’s 

As in the men’s side of the 2024 U.S. Open, we won’t see a back-to-back winner on the women’s side. That was determined once the defending champ (No. 3 seed) American Coco Gauff was disposed of by countrymate/Olympic teammate, No. 13 Emma Navarro, in three sets.

Gauff’s subpar tennis throughout the season led her to admit she expects better of herself.

Navarro will be in line to face Spain’s Paula Badosa, ranked No. 26, in the Tuesday quarters. Badosa is a -130 favorite, Navarro at even-money, as per U.S. Open tennis women’s odds.

The second-seed Aryna Sabalenka is a huge (-330) choice against No. 7 Qinwen Zheng (+240) of China, the latter defeating No. 24 Croatian Donna Vekic in a rematch of the Olympic final. Lasting two hours and 50 minutes, it was the latest-ending women’s match in US Open history, having finished at 2:15 AM local time.

Top-seeded Iga Switek is in action in a Round of 16 match Monday evening.