.Third-round action at the U.S. Open starts with a third-round face-off between Ben Shelton and also Frances Tiafoe on Friday. Novak Djokovic as well as Alexei Popyrin are likewise pursuing a place in the proverbial 2nd week of the tournament.Here are my choices for two of Friday's absolute best matchups.( thirteen) Ben Shelton vs. (twenty) Frances Tiafoe.
It is actually a rematch of the final summertime's united state Open quarterfinals, and this time around Shelton comes in along with some expectations. In fact, he is the favored versus Tiafoe-- which wasn't the scenario in 2023. Shelton was actually the underdog in their previous united state Open tilt, yet he gained it in 4 sets as well as ended up being an unpleasant surprise semifinalist who delighted New York crowds along with his booming offer and big-stage personal appeal.
Both Shelton and also Tiafoe are playing effectively currently. The previous looked self-assured in his straight-set win over Roberto Bautista Agut on Wednesday. The 21-year-old created the quarterfinals at the Cincinnati Masters earlier this month. Tiafoe made it all the way to the Cincy final just before succumbing to Jannik Sinner.
Shelton is an ideal 2-0 in the head-to-head set. Try to find it to become 3-0 when this ends.
Decide on: Shelton in 4( 28) Alexei Popyrin vs. (2) Novak DjokovicDjokovic and Popyrin will be actually squaring off at a third major in 2024 when they reunite on Friday. They additionally went head-to-head at the Australian Open as well as Wimbledon, with Djokovic doing the job in four collections both times to seize an overall 3-0 lead in the H2H series. He additionally dominated 6-4, 6-2 at the 2019 Tokyo activity.
As those reasonable Conquest runs into with Djokovic show, Popyrin is participating in the most ideal tennis of his occupation this year-- as well as it is actually not even shut. He is up to 28th in the rankings many thanks partially to a Masters thousand headline in Montreal and so far in NYC the Aussie has positively thrashed both Soonwoo Kwon as well as Pedro Martinez. Unfortunately for Stand Out, Djoker has won 18 embed in succession dating back to the Olympics. The 24-time bang champ has actually certainly not submitted a readied to any person apart from Carlos Alcaraz because he dropped one to none besides Popyrin in the Wimbledon third shot.
Pick: Djokovic in 3Ricky adds to 10sballs. com as well as likewise maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on Twitter at @Dimonator.