Tennis tips: Our 3 smash hits for Friday’s US Open matches

Our tennis tipster Henry Gilsenan reckons Emma Raducanu's US Open journey could come to an end.

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* All match times are approximate and some will depend on the finish of games being played before them.

Friday 02:00: Emma Raducanu v Maria Sakkari – Sakkari to Win 2-1

There is a growing sentiment within the British Isles that the US Open silverware is coming, admittedly not home, but back with Raducanu in any case. The 18-year old continued her fairytale debut US Open campaign with a polished 2-0 set win over Belinda Bencic in the quarter finals, which matched two women in undeniably hot form – Bencic with her Gold Medal performance in the Tokyo Olympics and Raducanu with her A* in maths and A in Economics in the A levels.

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Raducanu showed impressive composure to set aside early nerves when she dropped her first service game, but the question is now whether she can do it all again. Sakkari (No. 18) is lower ranked than Bencic (No. 12) but again Raducanu is the underdog, much in part due to the more experienced Sakkari claiming a decisive victory over World No. 4 Karolina Pliskova in her own quarter finals.

Raducanu’s future is definitely bright, but it may just be that experience and recent scalp that will get Sakkari over the line tomorrow, but winning a set looks well within Raducanu’s reach considering her performance against a better server in Bencic.

Friday 16:00: Novak Djokovic v Alexander Zverev – Djokovic to Win 3-2

Djokovic was biblically upset when Zverev crushed his hopes of winning a Golden Slam in 2021 in the semi-finals of the Tokyo Olympics, but has managed to put that behind him for the most part and has been comfortably the favourite to win the Open since the get go. Notably, he has been slow to get up and running in his last three matches, losing the opening set each time (before reverting to his regular clinical self and winning the remaining sets without losing more than three games).

Zverev will offer a stern test, however, as while Zverev was coming off a six match losing streak against the Serbian in Tokyo, the two previous encounters this year were also competitive and may be a sign that the gap is closing. Djokovic is always capable of finding that extra gear but it’s not unreasonable to think that Zverev may win one more set than Djokovic’s last three opponents managed to.

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Friday 16:00: Felix Auger-Aliassime v Daniil Medvedev – Medvedev to Win 3-0 & Win Each Set 6-2, 6-3 Or 6-4

Neither man has been overly tested on his route to the semi finals and Auger-Aliassime has had the added benefit of a retirement shortened quarter final. However, that extra respite does little to improve his chances against the World No. 2.

The two players have only ever played against each other once before, back in 2018, which Medvedev edged out. While both players have since improved, Medvedev has maintained a top 5 ranking for over two years now.

Victory in three sets looks the most likely for the Russian (who has only dropped one set so far) and to do so by winning each set 6-2, 6-3, or 6-4 looks like an interesting bet.

US Open tips:

Friday 02:00: Emma Raducanu v Maria Sakkari – Sakkari to Win 2-1
Friday 16:00: Novak Djokovic v Alexander Zverev – Djokovic to Win 3-2
Friday 16:00: Felix Auger-Aliassime v Daniil Medvedev – Medvedev to Win 3-0 & Win Each Set 6-2, 6-3 Or 6-4

* All match times are approximate and some will depend on the finish of games being played before them.

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