The U.S. Open second round will get underway on Wednesday with No. 5 seed Kevin Anderson taking on Jeremy Chardy and French Open finalist Dominic Thiem battling American Steve Johnson. Anderson is coming off a five-set win.
(5) Kevin Anderson vs. Jeremy Chardy
For a second tournament in a row, Anderson faces world No. 46 Chardy in an early round. The two men last met in the Cincinnati second round just two weeks ago. Chardy was unable to snag a set from Anderson despite the fact that the Wimbledon finalist showed obvious signs of fatigue from his semifinal run in Toronto.
The situation appears to be similar at the U.S. Open. Anderson had a surprisingly difficult first-round match against American Ryan Harrison, who pushed the South African to a fifth set on Monday. Fortunately for Anderson, Chardy is badly out of form at the moment. The Frenchman made the semifinals at the Queen’s Club in June, but he hasn’t won two matches in a row since.
Cheryl pick: Anderson in 4, despite his match fatigue
Ricky pick: Anderson in 4
(9) Dominic Thiem vs. Steve Johnson
Despite Thiem’s seeding, this is a favorable matchup for the unseeded but No. 31-ranked Johnson. Thiem has positioned himself in the tennis world as the second-best clay-court player after Rafael Nadal. The problem for Thiem is that he won’t be playing on clay on Wednesday, and he has barely been able to win a match off the dirt since his run to the final of the French Open.
Johnson comes into the U.S. Open off a run to the final in Winston-Salem, where he lost to Daniil Medvedev. His summer has been a mixed bag, with early exits in Washington, D.C. Toronto, and Cincinnati, but he took the title in Newport in July after Wimbledon.
This is definitely a winnable match for Johnson. Thiem won their two meetings on clay, but Johnson snagged their only hard-court battle in Tokyo last year.
Cheryl pick: Johnson for the “upset” win in 4
Ricky pick: Johnson in 4
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Anderson played some great, “guts” tennis to defeat Harrison yesterday, but he’ll ein in 3; …and yes, Johnson with the upset win over Thiem, in 4.
“upset” ????
He just forgot the quotes, that’s all.
Both matches are almost 50/50 at this point.