We’re on to round two of the U.S. Open, where Serena Williams will be back on the court following her first-round success. Monday’s win seemingly prolonged her singles career (she is also playing doubles in New York with her sister, Venus), as this is expected to be the final tournament of the 40-year-old’s illustrious career. Given how hard it is to know what to expect from Williams on any given day, I’m not touching her match against No. 2 seed Anett Kontaveit.
However, there is plenty to choose from on a busy Wednesday so let’s check out my favorite plays.
It was only a matter of time before Draper’s breakthrough came, and it has come this summer. The 20-year-old Brit made a run to the Montreal quarterfinals and he did the same last week in Winston-Salem. A straight-set blowout of Emil Ruusuvuori on Monday was incredibly impressive, too. It is true that Auger-Aliassime is one of the most talented players on tour, but he is still extremely inconsistent. Although the Canadian has won plenty of matches in recent weeks, he has also suffered some alarmingly poor losses. Draper has a real chance to win this one outright, so I will happily take the +4.5 spread.
It will be an all-American affair between two rising stars when Paul and Korda collide. There is one reason and one reason only why you can get Paul as an underdog: he trails the head-to-head series 3-0. However, all three of those encounters came last year — when Korda was enjoying a meteoric rise up the rankings and Paul was somewhat stuck in neutral. Now it is Paul who is on fire and Korda who has stalled. It should also be noted that two of the three 2021 matchups required final sets, so it’s not like Paul was getting blown off the court. A best-of-five situation at a Grand Slam also favors Paul, whose fitness is among the world’s best.
The surface will probably dictate the outcome of this match and hard courts most definitely favor Dart. In her career, she has won 163 matches on outdoor hard courts (to go along with 106 losses); by comparison she is 20-23 on clay and 30-38 on grass. Galfi, on the other hand, has been at her best on clay over the past four seasons. The 24-year-old Hungarian is no pushover, but for the second round of a Grand Slam this is an amazing draw of Dart. Plus, the 26-year-old Brit upset Daria Kasatkina on Monday, and Kasatkina has already won two WTA titles this summer and is ranked in the top 10. To that Galfi is much, much softer opponent would be a gross understatement. This pick of Dart is likely to hit the bullseye.
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