Tennis Betting Tips: Back a lively second set in US Open Women’s Singles Final

There’s a potential thriller in store in New York City on Saturday when Jessica Pegula takes on Aryna Sabalenka in the US Open Women’s Singles Final.

Read below for Saturday's Tennis betting tips, which feature two picks from Saturday's showdown between the American and Belarusian.

Tennis Odds

Pegula can count herself a little fortunate to be competing in her first Grand Slam singles title match because she was taken apart by Karolina Muchova early on in their semi-final encounter.

Credit where it’s due, though, and Pegula did well to fight back for a 1-6 6-4 6-2 victory against the in-form Czech.

But the Buffalo native goes into even deeper uncharted territory on Saturday and may find herself under further fire from the outset when she takes on pre-tournament title favourite Sabalenka, who is eyeing her third major singles crown and her first away from Melbourne Park.

Set 2 Winner - Jessica Pegula @ 2/1

Sabalenka is no stranger to making a fast start in matches and given that Pegula is likely to be under intense pressure to perform in her home state in her first Slam singles final, the outsider may do well to keep tabs on the second seed in the opening exchanges.

Pegula managed to win just one game in the first set of her US Open last-four clash - that was the first major singles semi-final she had contested in her career - and the Toronto champion may not win many more games in the opening set of Saturday’s trophy clash.

Should Pegula start slowly for the second time in as many matches, she may again need to step things up in set two against Sabalenka.

Punters should not dismiss Sabalenka winning in straight sets lightly. She defeated Pegula 6-3 7-5 in the Cincinnati final last month and may do so again.

However, while Sabalenka has been the player to beat throughout the tournament and is still the one to stop in the final, it’s just possible that she may be no more difficult to deny in set two than Muchova was for Pegula in their semi.

Therefore, punters may be getting the chance to back the outsider to win the second set at a decent price.

Set 2 Total Games - Over 9.5 @ 11/10

Anyone looking for a second interest can consider backing set two to contain over 10.5 games at 3/1 - the set would obviously have to finish either 7-5 or 7-6 - or Pegula to win it.

There’s not much in it but as the first option is merely an extension of the main bet, let’s take a chance on the outsider coming up trumps in set two.

Clearly much of the reason for having this bet revolves around Pegula making another slow start, but there are good grounds to think that may happen again.

And if it does happen, then set two could quickly become last-chance saloon as far as the home hope is concerned.

Of course, even if the slow-start possibility fails to materialise, there is still a chance that Pegula could win the second set anyway. She has certainly been playing well enough this season to trouble an opponent of Sabalenka’s stature.

You can read all our latest Tennis Betting Tips at our dedicated Betfred Insights content hub.