.Third-round action at the U.S. Open begins with a third-round face-off in between Ben Shelton as well as Frances Tiafoe on Friday. Novak Djokovic as well as Alexei Popyrin are additionally aiming for an area in the typical second week of the tournament.Here are my picks for 2 of Friday's greatest matchups.( 13) Ben Shelton vs. (20) Frances Tiafoe.
It is actually a rematch of the final summer season's USA Open quarterfinals, as well as this time Shelton comes in along with some assumptions. In fact, he is the beloved versus Tiafoe-- which had not been the scenario in 2023. Shelton was actually the longshot in their previous U.S. Open tilt, however he won it in four sets as well as ended up being an unpleasant surprise semifinalist who delighted New York groups along with his flourishing serve as well as big-stage personal appeal.
Both Shelton and also Tiafoe are playing well currently. The former appeared certain in his straight-set win over Roberto Bautista Agut on Wednesday. The 21-year-old made the quarterfinals at the Cincinnati Expert previously this month. Tiafoe made it all the way to the Cincy final just before succumbing to Jannik Sinner.
Shelton is actually a best 2-0 in the head-to-head series. Seek it to become 3-0 when this one points.
Select: Shelton in 4( 28) Alexei Popyrin vs. (2) Novak DjokovicDjokovic and also Popyrin will be actually squaring off at a third learn 2024 when they meet again on Friday. They additionally went head-to-head at the Australian Open and Wimbledon, with Djokovic doing the job in four collections both times to confiscate an overall 3-0 top in the H2H series. He also prevailed 6-4, 6-2 at the 2019 Tokyo activity.
As those competitive Conquest faces along with Djokovic suggest, Popyrin is participating in the most effective tennis of his occupation this year-- and also it's not also close. He is up to 28th in the rankings thanks partially to a Masters 1000 label in Montreal therefore far in New York City the Aussie has actually positively thrashed both Soonwoo Kwon and also Pedro Martinez. However for Pop, Djoker has actually won 18 embed in sequence going back to the Olympics. The 24-time slam champ has certainly not given up a readied to anyone apart from Carlos Alcaraz since he dropped one to none besides Popyrin in the Wimbledon third shot.
Pick: Djokovic in 3Ricky adds to 10sballs. com and additionally preserves his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can observe him on Twitter at @Dimonator.