Ricky Dimon and Cheryl Murray of The Grandstand make their picks for three of the best matchups on Day 3 of the U.S. Open. Two especially intriguing ones are on the schedule: Andy Murray vs. Fernando Verdasco and Stefanos Tsitsipas vs. Daniil Medvedev.
Andy Murray vs. (31) Fernando Verdasco
Ricky: Murray contested his first best-of-five match since Wimbledon in 2017 on Monday and persevered through it in three hours and 18 minutes, beating James Duckworth in four sets. It wasn’t exactly the world No. 1 of old, but it was a decent performance given the current circumstances. When he’s at his best, Murray can be an aggressive player who also plays incredible defense. When he isn’t, Murray is a grinder who can still make opponents beat themselves. That is something Verdasco does with frequency. The Scot may not necessarily be able to “win” this match, but Verdasco is definitely capable of losing it. Murray in 4: 6-3, 5-7, 6-1, 6-4.
Cheryl: Andy Murray is back. Sort of. A LLOOONNNGGG injury layoff has Murray currently at No. 382 in the world. He got to the quarters in Washington, D.C., where he played reasonably well, but he has just one first-round loss to Lucas Pouille to show for his efforts since then. Verdasco is ranked a solid 32nd in the world, but lately he has seen success only on clay. There is also the small matter of Murray owning a 13-1 record over Verdasco. A match on his favorite surface against a known (and dominated) opponent might be just what Murray needs to get back on track. Murray in 4: 7-5, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2.
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Daniil Medvedev vs. (15) Stefanos Tsitsipas
Ricky: This should be a fun one; the most fun one of the entire day, in fact. Both up-and-comers are playing awesome tennis and they also hate each other. Well, “hate” may be overdoing it; but there won’t be any love lost on Wednesday. Medvedev won their only previous encounter this spring in Miami, where a contentious affair included Tsitsipas allegedly calling his opponent a “bullshit Russian.” Just five months later, the Greek is a while different beast. Medvedev is playing even better, too–just not good enough to beat Tsitsipas. Tsitsipas in 5: 3-6, 6-2, 7-5, 6-7(8), 6-3.
Cheryl: This is a juicy little Next Gen second-round matchup. Medvedev just won Winston-Salem a few days ago. The Russian is on the rise; he went through qualies in Toronto, where he made the round of 16, and he won his only other encounter against Tsitsipas in Miami this year in three sets. Unfortunately for Medvedev, Tsitsipas isn’t really the same player now that he was earlier this season. A meteoric rise to No. 15 in the world included an historic run in Toronto, where he became the youngest player to ever defeat four top-10 players in the same tournament. Furthermore, Medvedev has played a lot of tennis in the past week and a half. After making the final in Toronto, Tsitsipas lost quietly in the first round in Cincinnati and has been resting up. This has match has the potential to be highly entertaining. Tsitsipas in 4: 6-4, 7-5, 6-7, 6-3.
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(18) Jack Sock vs. Nikoloz Basilashvili
Ricky: Two of the biggest forehands will be on display here. Only one of those forehands, however, has worked in 2018. Basilashvili recently captured a 500-point title on the red clay of Hamburg, while Sock has been an unmitigated disaster this entire season. The only reason the American is in the second round is because he went up against Guido Andreozzi in his opener. Andreozzi is without question one of the worst hard-court players in the entire field. Moreover, Sock as endured a bevy of heat-related issues over the years at the U.S. Open and it is hotter than ever in New York this time around. Basilashvili in 4: 6-1, 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-2.
Cheryl: Not to be overly insulting, but Sock has been positively abysmal in 2018. A quick scan through his playing activity reveals the jarring reality–which is that for the entirety of the season, the American has not won two matches in a row. ALL YEAR! It’s a sobering statistic, especially given his ranking of 18th in the world. Worse, until he beat Argentina’s Guido Andreozzi in the first round on Monday, he hadn’t won a match since May. Basilashvili is ranked 37th in the world, thanks in large part to his surprise title in Hamburg this summer. The Georgian played just one hard-court tune up event in Winston-Salem, losing to Matteo Berretini in the first round. It will be a mess of a match, but fortunately it won’t last long. Basilashvili in 3: 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.
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