US Open Tennis Preview – Thursday, September 5th at 00.00 am
Going into the US Open, there was a big murmur about young Canadian Bianca Andreescu. She ran up a nice bit of form ahead of the tournament. Now here she is, living up to her expectations by appearing in the quarter-finals of the Grand Slam.
Bianca Andreescu v Elise Mertens Odds*
Bianca Andreescu 8/15
Elise Mertens 6/4
* (betting odds taken from bet365 on September 3rd, 2019 at 7:55 pm)
Can Andreescu march on at Flushing Meadows?
Bianca Andreescu is riding a big wave of momentum at the moment. Just ahead of the US Open, she claimed the title at the Rogers Cup in Canada. That was after her opponent in the Final, Serena Williams, retired. Williams pulled out after the fourth game of the opening set with a back problem. But to be fair, Andreescu had already had a tough tournament. She had beaten fifth seed Kiki Bertens and third seed Karolina Plsikova along the way.
It has been a bit easier for her at the US Open because she didn’t drop a set until her fourth-round tussle with Taylor Townsend. The 19-year-old is playing for the first time in the main draw of the US Open, so that is why this has been an impressive run. This is now her best ever Grand Slam result, having been to the second round of this year’s Austrian and French Opens.
Head to head
This will be the first meeting between the two players
Can Mertens continue stunning US Open form?
Belgium’s Elise Mertens has been in some blisteringly hot form at Flushing Meadows. She has powered her way through the rounds, barely giving any of her opponents a glimmer of hope. She won her first two matches 6-2 6-2, took a 6-3 6-3 win over Andrea Petkovic in the third round, then dispatched Kristie Ahn 6-1 6-1 in the fourth round.
Mertens has now matched her quarter-final berth from last season’s run at Flushing Meadows (her previous best). This is no surprise given that Mertens reached the semis at the French Open and the quarters at this year’s Wimbledon. So that’s at least the quarter-finals reached now in four of the last five Grand Slam events that Mertens has pulled off. She may well be undervalued here.
Predictions
Mertens is the underdog here, but she gets the nod in this one from us. Andreescu has been dropping sets in this season’s US Open campaign, whereas, albeit against weaker opposition, Mertens has been powering her way through. The Belgian has the track record in Slams and can pull out the win at 6/4 odds* (betting odds taken from bet365 on September 3rd, 2019 at 7:55 pm)
