US Open Tennis Betting Tips: Home advantage to pay off for Paul

There are 16 singles matches scheduled to take place at the US Open on Friday, eight third-round encounters from the men’s draw as well as eight coming from the women’s.

Novak Djokovic is the star attraction and after two straight-sets victories he prepares for an all-Serbian showdown with Laslo Djere.

Elsewhere, women’s world number one and defending champion Iga Swiatek is hoping to book her place in the last-16 as she takes on Kaja Juvan of Slovenia. To embrace the action, we have picked out three value selections.

Paul fancied to edge Davidovich Fokina

Bookmakers give Tommy Paul the edge in his third-round showdown with Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and that looks completely justified with home-court advantage likely to play a big part for the American.

Paul will have the crowd on side and, with either Ben Shelton or Aslan Karatsev waiting for the winner in the last-16, this is an excellent opportunity for both players to go on a deep run.

The American did just that at the Australian Open in January as he made his way to the final four, a dream run which saw him edge past Davidovich Fokina in five thrilling sets in the second round.

Paul’s only other meeting with the Spaniard came on a hard-court in Miami in March, with the American again proving too strong for Davidovich Fokina in a 6-3 7-5 victory.

Davidovich Fokina may have enjoyed an easier passage to this stage, recording straight-set wins over Marcos Giron and Juan Manuel Cerundolo.

However, Paul showed great resilience to come from two sets down to overcome the dangerous Roman Safiullin in the last round, a result which should have motivated him to raise his levels.

The Floridian has had an excellent hard-court season, highlighted by his run to the semi-final in Toronto which featured a victory over world number one Carlos Alcaraz, and is taken to triumph.

Mannarino likely to push Tiafoe

Having made last season’s US Open semi-finals, home favourite Frances Tiafoe will be expected to sail into the last-16 at Adrian Mannarino’s expense.

However, Mannarino is playing some excellent stuff at the age of 35 and the seasoned Frenchman should be feeling pretty positive about things.

Mannarino won his fourth ATP Tour title in Newport in July and he was a quarter-finalist in Cincinnati recently, meaning he has lost only seven of his last 24 matches.

Overcoming Tiafoe may be beyond him, but the Frenchman is performing well enough to stay competitive, making quotes of 4-5 about him getting a 5.5-game start perhaps generous.

Brady ready to end Wozniacki run

Two players who have only recently returned to the WTA Tour this year after lengthy lay-offs meet in the third round and slight preference is for American ace Jennifer Brady.

Caroline Wozniacki has twice finished runner-up at the New York Grand Slam and, despite announcing her retirement following the 2020 Australian Open, the Dane is back and playing well.

The 33-year-old stunned Petra Kvitova in round two, winning 7-5 7-6 in what was only her fourth match back after three years out.

However, Wozniacki meets a player in Brady who is equally as determined to make a scene, having only made her return in July following two years on the sidelines.

Brady may be slightly more advanced in her preparations, having had an extra month and three more competitive matches to work up her fitness.

And her three-set win over Magda Linette in the second round shows the 2021 Australian Open runner-up to be fighting fit.

Brady defeated Jelena Ostapenko and took world number four Elena Rybakina to a deciding set in Montreal earlier this month, which is by far the strongest recent form on offer.