U.S. Open R3 previews and predictions: Tsitsipas vs. Coric, Goffin vs. Krajinovic

Stefanos Tsitsipas’ section of the U.S. Open draw has seen several seeds go out, but Borna Coric is safely through to the third round and will face the Greek on Friday. David Goffin will battle Cincinnati quarterfinalist Filip Krajinovic.

(4) Stefanos Tsitsipas vs. (27) Borna Coric

It required absences of Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, but Tsitsipas is a top-four seed at a Grand Slam for the first time in his career–and surely not the last. The 22-year-old Greek is up to No. 6 in the world and he is sporting an 18-6 match record this season even though five months were missed due to the coronavirus pandemic. He has already won five matches in the bubble, reaching the Cincinnati semifinals before beating Albert Ramos-Vinolas and Maxime Cressy at the U.S. Open.

Whereas Tsitsipas cruised through his first two rounds in straight sets, Coric is coming off a five-set, four-hour and 19-minute struggle against Juan Ignacio Londero on Wednesday. The 32nd-ranked will make Tsitsipas work harder that he had to against Ramos-Vinolas and Cressy, but the No. 4 seed is simply in a different class right now–in terms of both current form and past history of success at Grand Slams. And Coric’s marathon in the previous round does not help the chances of an upset.

Pick: Tsitsipas in 4

(26) Filip Krajinovic vs. (7) David Goffin

Goffin and Krajinovic will be squaring off for the fourth time in their careers at the ATP level on Friday. The head-to-head series stands at 2-1 in favor of Krajinovic, who has won two in a row at Goffin’s expense. A pair of 2016 encounters went the way of the Serb, who got the job done 6-4, 6-4 on the indoor hard courts of Montpellier and 6-3, 6-3 at the Indian Wells Masters.

Along with Djokovic, Tsitsipas, Milos Raonic, and Roberto Bautista Agut, Krajinovic has been one of the MVPs of the bubble. The world No. 26 crushed Dominic Thiem en route to the Cincinnati quarterfinals and had a match point against Raonic before losing in three tight sets. He destroyed Mikael Ymer and Marcos Giron to begin his U.S. Open campaign, while Goffin dropped a set to both Reilly Opelka and Lloyd Harris. Krajinovic is the favorite despite being lower ranked, but things are never easy against the 10th-ranked Belgian.

Pick: Krajinovic in 5