Tennis Betting Tips: Krejcikova to upset another American in US Open QF

The US Open quarter-finals, available to watch live on Betfred, continue on Tuesday, with a few of the tournament's main attractions in action.

Below are Tuesday's Tennis Betting Tips, as I serve up a 23.43/1 treble...

Match Betting - Taylor Fritz (USA) to beat Novak Djokovic (SER) @ 6/4

Novak Djokovic beat qualifier Jan-Lennard Struff 6-3, 6-3, 6-2 in the last 16 of the US Open on Monday to become the oldest player in the Open era to reach the quarter-finals at all four Grand Slam events in a single season.

The 38-year-old raced into a 4-0 first-set lead against the German, but a neck injury appeared to halt his momentum, although there was never a point where he was ever truly in danger of failing to make the final eight in Flushing Meadows.

Still, doubts linger after some uncomfortable moments last week, when he dropped a set in the second and third round against Zachary Svajda and Cameron Norrie, respectively, and the Serbian is clearly struggling to deal with the physical demands of a Grand Slam, despite taking six weeks off court after Wimbledon.

His opponent on Tuesday, the last-remaining American man, Taylor Fritz, has advanced to the final eight in a similar fashion, winning his first and fourth matches in straight sets, either side of a couple of 3-1 victories.

The 27-year-old is now in his third consecutive US Open quarter-final, and will be looking to at least repeat last year's feat, when he reached the final, only to lose to Jannik Sinner.

This North American swing hasn't been too kind to Fritz, as a semi-final finish at the Canadian Open in Toronto was his best result of the three warm-up tournaments to the US Open. But he's been solid, if unspectacular, in Flushing Meadows so far, looking scrappy in the first few rounds before easing to a last-16 victory over Tomas Machac (6-4, 6-3, 6-3) on Sunday.

The World No. 4 must now overcome a huge mental hurdle, as he has lost all 10 previous meetings with Djokovic, the most recent at the Shanghai Open in China last October (4-6, 6-7).

However, nearly 12 months on, Djokovic looks to be physically wilting, and this is surely Fritz's best chance to beat his nemesis.

Djokovic will look to get this one over as quickly as possible, but the 24-time Grand Slam winner could be ground down by the big-serving Fritz, who will fancy his chances the longer the match goes on.

Set Betting - Carlos Alcaraz (ESP) 3-1 vs Jiri Lehecka (CZE) @ 12/5

Djokovic wasn't the only one setting records, as Carlos Alcaraz beat Arthur Rinderknech (7-6, 6-3, 6-4) in the last 16 to reach his 13th Grand Slam quarter-final in just 19 appearances. Alcaraz is only the third player to achieve the feat before 23, after Bjorn Becker and Bjorn Borg, and the first to achieve the feat in the 21st century.

The 22-year-old has motored into the final eight of this year's US Open and won his first major title in Flushing Meadows three years ago. Reigning champion Sinner (10/11) is considered the favourite to lift the trophy on Sunday, but Alcaraz (13/10) isn't far behind the Italian in the betting odds, and is my personal pick to triumph.

Alcaraz goes in search of a fifth consecutive straight-sets victory on Tuesday when he takes on Jiri Lehecka in the quarter-finals, but there are reasons to believe that the Czech can take a set off the Spaniard.

Lehecka has fared pretty well against Alcaraz this year, beating him 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 at the Doha Open in February, before losing 5-7, 7-6, 2-6 in the final of Queen's in June. That's three sets out of the last six, and although not at the level of the World No. 2, Fritz was taken to three tiebreaks by the Czech at the Canadian Open in Toronto earlier this month, edging past him 7-6, 6-7, 7-6.

Alcaraz shouldn't find things quite as tough as Fritz, but we have seen him switch off at times in tournaments, even in the last couple of weeks; he dropped a set to Damir Dzumhur (6-1, 2-6, 6-3) in the second round of the Cincinnati Open, for example.

I expect the five-time Grand Slam winner to avoid a five-set slog, but Lehecka is capable of taking him to four if he is on form and the Spaniard isn't firing on all cylinders.

Match Betting - Barbora Krejcikova (CZE) to beat Jessica Pegula (USA) @ 15/8

Former Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova broke American hearts on Sunday as she saved a whopping eight match points to defeat Taylor Townsend, 1-6, 7-6, 6-3 in the last 16.

The Czech moves on to the quarter-finals, where she will take on another American and fourth seed Jessica Pegula, who finished runner-up at last year's US Open. Pegular hasn't dropped a set in Flushing Meadows, but Krejcikova is a fierce competitor who never knows when she's beaten, as highlighted by her victory over Townsend, and that match could serve her well for this final-eight tie with the World No. 4.

Pegula won the first meeting between the two at the Australian Open in January 2023 (7-5, 6-2), but is down 1-2 in the head-to-record following defeats at the 2023 Dubai Open (1-6, 7-5, 0-6) and last year's WTA Finals in Riyadh (3-6, 2-6).

Krejcikova reached the last 16 of the Cincinnati Open last month, as did Pegula, but the latter had lost four of her previous six contests, so wasn't in scintillating form heading to New York.

It could be a closely-fought battle on Tuesday, but at 15/8, Krejcikova is well worth backing to tame a third straight American, following her third-round success over Emma Navarro (4-6, 6-4, 6-4) and last-16 win against Townsend.

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