Welcome to another U.S Open writeup as we discuss our favorite plays on the slate. We want to make note that the scoring is slightly different since women play 3 sets and men play 5 sets. Draftkings has tried to “nerf” the men’s scoring due to having more sets but we still like using them because women’s matches tend to be closer and have more double faults with less aces. The only women we are going to consider are ones that are going to flat out dominate the match, have high upside, or value plays. With that being said, let’s discuss our favorite plays in each tier. We’ll give you our favorite play in each range and you can use the projections to fill out the rest of your lineups. Good luck and we’ll be in discord available to answer any questions on any players you want to inquire about!
11k-10k range
Iga Swiatek – This is a fantastic matchup for Swiatek to impose her will. Her ability to move from one end of the court to the other during rallies will frustrate her opponent and lead her to multiple break point chances. We expect Swiatek to dominate here.
Alexandra Eala – This girl has the slowest serve ever but she makes a name off her placement on those serves. Eala steals points with her placement so service games don’t typically go long. It is the opposite in the return game as Eala keeps rallies going until her opponent makes an error. This is another dominating spot for Eala to cruise through.
Madison Keys – We were extremely impressed with how Madison Keys dismantled Alina Korneeva who is the type of tennis player that fits the mold of being tough to deal with. She didn’t look so great early on but she hung in there and created break point chances. This is a massive step down in competition and we expect her to look better than she did in the first round with a dominating second round performance.
Mirra Andreeva – Eva Lys poses no threat and is outmatched everywhere. We expect Andreeva to put up a score similar to her first round matchup.
Taylor Fritz – The lone male that makes this list is for a good reason. Taylor Fritz racks up an abundance of aces and will likely dismantle his opponent in straight sets. We don’t even mind him losing a set just because he makes up those points with aces if given another set.
9k-8k range
Alexander Blockx – He is a talented serve bot that makes a name off the ability to get in powerful serves. Trungelliti is a clay specialist and struggled on hard courts so we expect Blockx to dominate as he racks up an abundance of winners.
Iva Jovic – She gave a little scare in the first round but Frech can be a tricky first round opponent. She easily got back into the set though after getting broken. Now she gets a step down in competition against Jones where she had a chance to put up a better score than her last match if we get the Jovic that starts off serving well and not making errors.
Amanda Anisamova – She has Tagger outmatches everywhere. The serve will be too much to handle and Tagger will make plenty of unforced errors. We like Anisamova to cruise into the next round without losing too many games.
Felix Auger Aliassime – Typically Khachanov has the ability to match the firepower of anyone’s serve or forehand but not this year. It has been a terrible year for Khachanov which is why he is unseeded. We love F.A.A ability to dictate rallies and win points with his powerful forehands. The cherry on top is the elite serve and ability to rack up aces.
Luciano Darderi – He has the luxury of taking on an opponent with the worse serve in the ATP Tour. That is a recipe for disaster because Darderi is an excellent returner. We love Darderi at this price which makes him an easy option to fit in.
7k-6k Range
Ignacio Buse – He just faced Bonzi a few weeks ago and looked great. This is great value because we believe Buse will thrive in a best of match against Bonzi. His youth and ability to adapt to hard courts the way he has gives us confidence in this spot.
Arthur Gea – This is a terrible stylistic matchup for Svajda. We love Gea because of his aggressive play style which wins him plenty of points. Svajda doesn’t play well against those kinds of players.
Yuchaokeye Bu – Holy cow did he put the world on notice and prove everyone wrong with his complete domination over Rafael Jodar. That’s the Bu we know on the Challenger circuit when he’s at his best. If he can even be half of what he was against Jodar, he is very much live to steal another win as the lucky loser against Michael Zheng.
Himeno Sakatsume – We called out her opponent as a major value last time out. We are following the blueprint of simplifying fading terrible players who should not be priced as sizable favorites. Sakatsume is the pick here as the value since Bucsa gives us nothing to be impressed about.
5k-3k range (Riskier plays)
Botic Van De Zandschlup – You either get two versions of BVDZ here. You either get the one that makes an abundance of errors or the one that can compete with the best of the top 10 on tour. If we get the latter, he is live to pull an upset over De Minaur who has struggled this year.
Tristan Schoolkate – The odds shouldn’t be as wide as they are here. Schoolkate looked impressive against Basvareddy. He lives and dies by his strong serve and solid forehands. Cobolli is slowly crumbling and already struggled in round one against a player with a worse serve and forehand than Schoolkate. This is value we like taking since we believe Schoolkate can make the match closer than most think.
Jurij Rodionov – This is a super risky play considering he is taking on an elite opponent. The reason he is being listed is because we have been impressed with how he’s looked. He finally broke through into the main draw after failing to do so several years. There’s a reason he got into the main draw and that is because his ability to hold serve has forced opponents into uncomfortable and pressuring service games. If Rodionov can continue to hold serve the way he has then it’s not out of the realm of possibility he can steal two sets and potentially creep into upset territory.
Dane Sweeny – Viable punt play considering Musetti can be inconsistent. Sweeny is a decent player when his serve is on because these hard courts benefit a strong serve. Sweeny can definitely challenge Musetti here if the Italian is not at his besg early on.