The entirety of the Second Round was pathetically bad for the Tennis Picks, but it also should be said that there is not a lot you can do when players are giving away breaks of serve as easily as they were in that Round.
It happens in the two weeks of any Grand Slam, but does mean there is considerable work to do to turn things back around after a tough couple of days.
On Friday, Day 5, the US Open moves into the Third Round and there should be fewer excuses for players who should be very comfortable in the conditions. However, it is also the time of the tournament when matches get tougher as places in the second week are up for grabs.
This year there have been plenty of upsets through the first four days which means a number of unfamiliar names will be taking part in the Third Round, but that also means there are opportunities available to those players to really make a solid breakthrough on the Tour.
Zhizhen Zhang - 2.5 games v Rinky Hijikata: An opportunity to reach the second week of a Grand Slam is a huge boost for these two players who have worked their way through the draw and will certainly feel this is a winnable match.
The hard work has been done by Zhizhen Zhang who has beaten two higher Ranked opponents, including beating a top five Seed and last year's Runner Up Casper Ruud. That has opened up the section of the draw, but Zhang will be keen to back up the performance in the Second Round, although there has to be a little bit of concern that he has needed five sets in both wins at the US Open.
A day of rest is important, but there will be plenty of emotion spent in beating Casper Ruud and the key for Zhizhen Zhang is recovering and not allowing the headlines made to distract him ahead of this Third Round match. He has a solid all around hard court game, but Zhang has not found the kind of consistency he has shown in this tournament and so there is plenty of hard work to do if he is going to keep the run going.
This is a player that has always had some confidence in his serving, but Zhizhen Zhang has returned much better than usual in his two wins here. Maintaining those levels might be difficult, but the match up with Rinky Hijikata should be one that Zhang is confident in dealing with too.
A win over the World Number 98 was followed by beating the shell of Marton Fucsovics in the Second Round, but the latter win will have given Rinky Hijikata some belief in his abilities. He looks like he will crack the top 100 of the World Rankings for the first time at the end of this tournament, but this is a player that only had a 2-8 record against top 100 Ranked opponents on the hard courts before the US Open began and so it is still hard to believe in Hijikata's tennis being good enough to win a match like this one.
So much will depend on how well Zhizhen Zhang has recovered from the two wins he has had this week, but he is young enough to believe that he will have much more in the tank that Marton Fucsovics offered in the Second Round loss to Rinky Hijikata.
These two have met on the hard courts earlier this season and Zhizhen Zhang was a pretty confident winner, even if he needed the full three sets to earn the victory. His serve proved to be a difference maker in that contest and the feeling is that the improved return shown in the tournament will put Rinky Hijikata under more pressure this time.
He has shown he can come through tough five setters, but the feeling is that Zhang will be able to close the show a little sooner than that and the 26 year old can reach the second week at a Grand Slam for the first time.
Tommy Paul v Alejandro Davidovich Fokina: Before last year, Tommy Paul had suffered four consecutive First Round defeats before a run to the Third Round in 2022, but it looked like being another short stay at the US Open as he fell two sets down to a hot hitting Roman Safiullon in the Second Round on Wednesday.
Coming back from two sets down is a challenge for any player on the Tour, but Tommy Paul bit down on the gum-shield and he was not only able to weather the storm in turning things completely around. It can be difficult to recover from a five set win emotionally, but the good news for fans of the American is that he was not on the court for as long as some five setters can last.
It should mean Tommy Paul is able to find the time to recover ahead of the Third Round match and he is looking for his best run at the US Open several months after surprisingly reaching the Semi Final at the Australian Open.
That run included a five set win over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the Second Round and the Spaniard is once again standing on the other side of the net after winning all six sets played at the US Open this week.
When they met in Melbourne, it was Alejandro Davidovich Fokina who was slightly higher in the World Rankings compared with Tommy Paul, although it also meant he was the Seeded player. Both are Seeded here at the US Open, but Tommy Paul is the higher Ranked player and he will take plenty of heart out of the fact that he has beaten Alejandro Davidovich Fokina twice this season and both on the hard courts.
Both matches have been competitive, but Paul has been the slightly superior server and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina is someone that is liable to throwing in a poor period within matches. He is very talented and Davidovich Fokina is never going to allow someone to take complete control of matches and that has been seen in his Grand Slam losses as he has pushed some of the best players on the Tour.
He will be looking to drag Tommy Paul into a long, drawn out scrap and see whether he can 'outlast' the American, but Paul looks like someone who has worked on his fitness and has to be inspired by what he produced in the Second Round.
There really has not been much between the players in terms of the numbers on the hard courts over the course of the 2023 season and they have had similar performances when facing the top 50 Ranked opponents. Tommy Paul has a winning record in those matches (11-8), while Davidovich Fokina does not (8-9), while the two wins Tommy Paul holds in the head to head has to give him a mental boost.
Another five setter as we saw in Melbourne when these two players faced off cannot be ruled out, but Tommy Paul's serving might just pave the way to make the difference for him.
Caroline Wozniacki v Jennifer Brady: For different reasons, both of these players have only recently returned to the Tour and the run to the Third Round of the US Open is perhaps a little unexpected for both Caroline Wozniacki and Jennifer Brady.
Caroline Wozniacki is back from retiring from the sport, and after becoming a mother twice, but at 33 years old she still feels she has something to offer. A former World Number 1 and Grand Slam Champion, most believe the Dane is returning to try and reach the top rather than playing for the enjoyment of the sport and Caroline Wozniacki has perhaps accepted that she may not get back to her best until 2024 with a few tournaments under her belt.
She played well enough to win her first two matches at the US Open, including an upset of veteran Petra Kvitova, but Caroline Wozniacki perhaps has nothing to lose having compiled a 1-2 record in the warm up events. Caroline Wozniacki has been off the Tour since the end of the Australian Open in 2020, but she has served pretty well in her first two wins here and that will give her confidence, especially as Wozniacki looked good at the end of both wins.
Jennifer Brady is also making a comeback after injury kept her away from the courts since August 2021 and the former US Open Semi Finalist and Australian Open Finalist had a 3-4 record in her return before also picking up two wins at Flushing Meadows. The second of those wins was a bit more taxing with Brady needing to spend over two hours on the court to beat Seeded Magda Linette in three sets and there were perhaps one or two signs of fatigue as Brady tried to see out the match in the deciding set.
The American has an aggressive style of tennis and she is likely going to get after the Caroline Wozniacki serve and especially when she sees the second serve. That is going to put Wozniacki under pressure, but so much of Jennifer Brady's game is based around how well she is serving and it is a shot that has not been quite at its best.
It should give Caroline Wozniacki a chance to get a few more balls back in play and she can frustrate the big hitter as she did to Petra Kvitova at key moments throughout that Second Round match. This has long been a strength of the Wozniacki game and the Dane looks to have a bit more in the tank compared with Jennifer Brady right now, which could prove to be the difference on the day.
While the only Grand Slam title was won in Australia, it could be argued that Caroline Wozniacki's best results were right here in New York City having twice finished Runner Up and reached three other Semi Finals. She did only reach the second week of one Grand Slam after winning the Australian Open title in 2018, but Caroline Wozniacki can make some early headlines by doing that in her return to the Tour.
MY PICKS: Zhizhen Zhang - 2.5 Games @ 1.90 Bet Victor (2 Units)
Tommy Paul @ 1.80 Bet Victor (2 Units)
Tommy Paul @ 1.80 Bet Victor (2 Units)
Caroline Wozniacki @ 1.80 Bet365 (2 Units)
Frances Tiafoe - 1.5 Sets @ 1.57 Paddy Power (2 Units)
Ben Shelton - 1.5 Sets @ 2.25 Paddy Power (2 Units)
Borna Gojo - 1.5 Sets @ 1.66 Paddy Power (2 Units)
Elena Rybakina - 4.5 Games @ 2.05 Bet Victor (2 Units)
Belinda Bencic - 3.5 Games @ 1.72 Bet365 (2 Units)
Karolina Muchova - 4.5 Games @ 1.83 Bet365 (2 Units)
US Open Update: 14-19, - 15.12 Units (66 Units Staked, - 22.91% Yield)
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