US Open Tennis Preview – August 30th, 2019 at 6.00 pm
Britain’s Johanna Konta will be entering third-round action at Flushing Meadows on Friday. It has been decent stuff from her so far at the US Open. Well, more than decent in the last round as she dropped just one set in crushing opponent Margarita Gasparyan.
Johanna Konta v Shuai Zhang Odds*
Johanna Konta 1/3
Shuai Zhang 12/5
* (betting odds taken from BetVictor on August 30th, 2019 at 12:44 am)
Konta in control
In the first round of US Open action, Britain’s Johanna Konta took a 2-1 victory over Russia’s Daria Kasatkina. That was billed as being a tricky opener for the British number. Konta started very strong in the match, but let her opponent back into the fixture. Konta had no trouble getting back on the gas to close out the win in the deciding set.
Then she was just unplayable in the second round. She raced away to a 6-1 6-0 victory over another Russian, Margarita Gasparyan. So after that little bit of a bumpy road in the opening match, that second-round win will have put Konta’s confidence through the roof. Next up for her is China’s Shuai Zhang, 33rd seed.
Will Zhang pose a threat?
Shuai Zhang opened with an easy breeze of a victory in the first round, beating Viktorija Golubic. It was a tighter affair for her in the second round. She did still win in straight sets but only claimed the first in a tight tie-breaker and the second set was won by just one break of serve. The Chinese player has never been past the third round of the US Open. However, just back at Wimbledon this year, she put in a surprisingly deep run to reach the quarterfinals.
Head to Head
Konta and Zhang have met five times before and it is Konta who leads 4-1 in the head to head. This will be their first meeting since 2016. Konta has won the last three meetings on the bounce. Interestingly, their first-ever meeting back in 2012 was at the US Open in the round of 32. Konta claimed a win in three sets.
Predictions
It has to be Konta all the way in this one. Basically, if Konta is dialled in, and she has been starting matches very well, then there doesn’t seem to be enough in her opponent’s game to stop her. We would push for the Konta 2-0 set betting option at 5/6* (betting odds taken from BetVictor on August 30th, 2019 at 12:44 am). This is a glorious chance at reaching the fourth round for Konta.
