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Friday best bets (2026 record: 399-356, -16.78 units; weekly record: 12-15, -4.98 units)
Novak Djokovic -2.5 games over Hubert Hurkacz (+100) – Djokovic leads the head-to-head series 8-0. He has won at least four more games than Hurkacz in all of their hard-court meetings. It has already been a long Asian swing for the Pole, who finished runner-up in Chengdu and reached the semifinals in Beijing (retired against Alex de Minaur due to a thigh injury). Fatigue could be a factor, which is especially bad news when the best returner in the sport is on the other side of the net and will force his way into long rallies regardless of how well Hurkacz serves. Moreover, Djokovic is back on track after winning another Beijing title but is also well rested given that De Minaur retired early in the second set in the final.
Arthur Fery +3.5 games over Karen Khachanov (-135) – Khachanov is a horrendous 3-6 lifetime in the Shanghai main draw, has never won back-to-back matches there, and has lost his opening match (including in qualifying) five times — including each of the past two years. Fery has the benefit of having already played a match this week, so has adjusted to the conditions. The Brit looked good, too, taking down Marin Cilic in straight sets. Sound the upset alert.
Parlay: Andrey Rublev over Rei Sakamoto and Frances Tiafoe over Yannick Hanfmann (-103) – Rublev is off to a strong start on the Asian swing, with a final appearance in Hangzhou (lost to Daniil Medvedev) and a quarterfinal finish in Beijing (lost to Alex de Minaur in three sets). Sakamoto has only won four ATP-level matches in his entire career. Meanwhile, Hanfmann is dangerous but needed three hours and 12 minutes to survive his opening match against Kamil Majchrzak in a trio of tiebreakers. With Nitto ATP Finals contention on the line, Tiafoe should be very motivated to do well in Shanghai.
Best underdog value:
Mannarino (+188) over Cobolli
Berrettini (+132) over Nakashima
Fery (+199) over Khachanov
Best favorite value:
Svitolina (-148) over Zheng
Gea (-122) over Humbert
Safiullin (-110) over Cerundolo
Djokovic (-184) over Hurkacz
Best weekly futures bets:
– Daniil Medvedev to win Shanghai (3 units at +2500)
– Frances Tiafoe to win Shanghai (2 units at +3000)
– Andrey Rublev to win Shanghai (1 unit at +5500)
2026 futures betting winners:
– Daniil Medvedev to win Brisbane (3 units at +300)
– Elena Rybakina to win the Australian Open (1 unit at +800)
– Carlos Alcaraz to win the Australian Open (3 units at +180)
– Felix Auger-Aliassime to win Montpellier (3 units at +500)
– Alex de Minaur to win Rotterdam (1 unit at +375)
– Jessica Pegula to win Dubai (3 units at +900)
– Jessica Pegula to win Charleston (3 units at +250)
– Tommy Paul to win Houston (3 units at +400)
– Frances Tiafoe to win Halle (1 unit at +3300)
– Linda Noskova to win Berlin (1 unit at +1800)
– Arthur Fils to win Cincinnati (3 units at +3500)
– Diane Parry to win Monterrey (2 units at +2500)
– Iva Jovic to win Guadalajara (3 units at +490)
WTA picks
Svitolina over Zheng in 3
Swiatek over Mertens in 2
weekly record: 54-31 (correct # of sets in winning picks: 26 out of 54)
2026 WTA record: 1310-703 (correct # of sets in winning picks: 786 out of 1310)
2025 WTA record: 1505-838 (correct # of sets in winning picks: 975 out of 1505)
2024 WTA record: 1331-769 (correct # of sets in winning picks: 893 out of 1331)
2023 WTA record: 951-518 (correct # of sets in winning picks: 618 out of 951)
2022 WTA record: 1084-510 (correct # of sets in winning picks: 714 out of 1084)
2021 WTA record: 1543-765 (correct # of sets in winning picks: 1043 out of 1543)
2020 WTA record: 402-221 (correct # of sets in winning picks: 254 out of 402)
2025 Best Bets record: 422-392
2024 Best Bets record: 377-394
2023 Best Bets record: 275-267-12
2022 Best Bets record: 255-234-6
2021 Best Bets record: 403-391-12
2020 Best Bets record: 173-135-7
1-3 again geez how bad r u at this …. Pcb beats Navone … Hurkacz romps 2-0 over duckworth and Marozsan loses 0-2 … just quit u idiot