US Open Odds, Analysis, Best Bets: Back These Women on Day 3 (August 31)
Elsa/Getty. Pictured: Beatriz Haddad Maia.
- The US Open rolls on with Wednesday matches.
- Jonathan Reid breaks down his best bets on a couple women's matchups.
- Read on for his best bets and analysis.
We're onto the second round of the U.S. Open, and boy have both draws been ravaged by upsets.
With the likes of Simona Halep and Elena Rybakina eliminated in the first stage of play, it just goes to show you won't want to miss any of the action over the next two weeks.
Here a few matches to keep an eye on from a potential betting standpoint on Wednesday.
Match times are subject to change. Read here for tips on viewing the US Open.
Shuai Zhang (-345) vs. Anna Karolina Schmiedlova (+260)
1 p.m. ET
It's been an incredible summer for 33-year-old Shuai Zhang, who is clearly happy to be back on the quicker hard courts of North America for the summer swing.
After struggles on slower hard courts in the spring and then clay leading into the French Open and post-Wimbledon, the flat ball striker reached the quarterfinals in Cincinnati before crushing Jil Teichmann in her opening US Open round.
Playing a lower-tier player in Anna Karolina Schmiedlova, it wouldn't be unreasonable to see books adjust and make this spread an expensive -5 or enticing -5.5 games.
Schmiedlova is far more erratic, more comfortable on clay, trails by nearly 140 points in Elo Rating and she lost her two summer hard-court matches leading into New York by an average of seven games.
Yet the spreadis at -4.5 games over at FanDuel, which I think is at least a half game too low, if not a full game in this spot.
With the gulf in both form and quality between these two, along with Schmiedlova's penchant to lose lopsided sets on hard courts this summer, I'm willing to take a position in this one.
Pick: Zhang -4.5 Games (-120 via FanDuel)
Beatriz Haddad Maia (-110) vs. Bianca Andreescu(-110)
9 p.m. ET
In what is sure to be one of the premier matches (on paper) of the second round from Flushing Meadows (in either draw), the ascending Beatriz Haddad Maia takes on young Canadian and former US Open champion Bianca Andreescu.
The match featuring "Bia" and "Bibi" has been given a primetime slot on Armstrong, following the matchup between Jack Draper and Andreescu's compatriot Felix Auger Aliassime.
With many books having opened the Brazilian as the favorite, the market has since adjusted and her price has drifted into the pick 'em range.
That's enough for me to get involved for a few reasons.
For starters, the consistency Haddad Maia displays in both her baseline game and on a macro level are far more inspiring than Andreescu.
The Canadian is prone to requiring three sets to get the job done – even against lesser competition.
Secondly, in terms of the actual matchup. while both can generate pace and are solid shotmakers and movers, Haddad Maia finds more free points behind a bigger first serve and has more natural power, thanks to her height advantage.
She has vaulted up the rankings this year for a reason. Equipped with an elite serve, strong movement (not just for her height), rally tolerance and power to her game, there are very few players on the women's tour that can boast a more well-rounded skillset.
While Andreescu has shown time and again she can hang with the best of them, the volatility in her game and Haddad Maia having a bit more to offer have me believing that this shouldn't be priced up so evenly.
Picks: Haddad Maia ML (-110 via PointsBet)
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