Ricky Dimon
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There will be no Serena Williams on Sunday night at the U.S. Open after her illustrious career came to an end on Friday, but we still have another intriguing order of play as Labor Day weekend continues. Coco Gauff is back in action on the women’s side, while the blockbuster matchup on the men’s side — both so far and perhaps in the entire tournament — features top seed Daniil Medvedev and Wimbledon runner-up Nick Kyrgios.
I am 12-5 so far through six days following a perfect 3-0 effort on Saturday. Let’s keep the momentum going with my Sunday picks!
Daniil Medvedev vs Nick Kyrgios Over 41.5 games (-113)
Get your popcorn ready for Medvedev-Kyrgios on Sunday night. With Medvedev ranked No. 1 in the world and Kyrgios playing the best tennis of his life, this is a showdown worthy of a final — not a fourth-rounder. Both of these guys are legitimate title contenders. In fact, Medvedev is the favorite and Kyrgios is the fourth favorite. Their head-to-head history also points toward an extremely competitive contest. They have faced each other four times and only one encounter has ended in straight sets…and that one was 7-6, 7-6! Both of these guys wield huge serves and are not easily broken, so even a four-set match should go over the total. But for fans, anything less than a five-set thriller would be a disappointment.
Matteo Berrettini vs Alejandro Davidovich Fokina Over 38.5 games (-118)
Berrettini is a considerable favorite, but there is no reason why Davidovich Fokina can’t be competitive. Despite growing up in Spain, Davidovich Fokina is at least as good, if not better on hard courts than he is on clay. He also reached the fourth round of the U.S. Open in 2020, so this isn’t his first rodeo. Berrettini hasn’t been at his best since missing Wimbledon because of Covid-19 and he has required four sets in each of his past two matches. In those three matches he played three tiebreakers — not a surprise given his huge serve and mediocre returning skills. I think this has a good chance of going five, and even a four-setter should take us over the number.
Caroline Garcia ML over over Alison Riske and Coco Gauff ML over Zhang Shuai (-166)
Gauff is always one of my favorite players to tail, and right now, Garcia is joining that group. Despite being only 18 years old, Gauff is ready to win a Grand Slam. She came within one victory of doing it at the French Open and now she is playing in much more favorable conditions. A relatively fast hard-court surface is great for her power game and she obviously has the fans behind her at home in the United States. In fact, with Williams now out of the tournament, Gauff is crowd favorite No. 1. Meanwhile, nobody on tour is hotter than Garcia at the moment. The Frenchwoman just captured the Cincinnati title and she has been absolutely crushing opponents through three rounds in New York.
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