U.S. Open R3 previews and predictions: Edmund vs. Shapovalov, Anderson vs. Coric

The bottom half of the U.S. Open draw is even more wide open than before now that Alexander Zverev is out. Kevin Anderson will be facing Borna Coric–not Zverev–during third-round action on Friday, while Kyle Edmund will go up against Denis Shapovalov.

(Q) Denis Shapovalov vs. Kyle Edmund

It will be another rematch of one of the most infamous incidents in recent tennis history when Edmund and Shapovalov battle for a place in the last 16 of the U.S. Open on Friday. During Davis Cup action between Canada and Great Britain back in February, Shapovalov was defaulted from his rubber against Edmund when he blasted a ball in frustration, accidentally sending it straight into the eye of chair umpire Arnaud Gabas. But to say the 18-year has bounced back impressively from that low point would be an exercise in the understatement. Included in his resurgence–or more like initial rise to prominence–is a 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-4 Queen’s Club victory over Edmund. Much more notably, of course, Shapovalov upset Rafael Nadal during a run to the semifinals of the Montreal Masters.

Both Shapovalov and Edmund have been outstanding so far this fortnight. The former disposed of Daniil Medvedev and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in straight sets, while Edmund also picked up straight-set wins at the expense of Robin Haase and Steve Johnson. Up to No. 42 in the world and likely on his way to being seeded at Grand Slams next season, Edmund owns more than half of his career ATP-level match victories (24 of 47) in 2017. The 22-year-old Brit is playing some of the best tennis of his life, but almost no one is as on-fire or as confident as Shapovalov right now.

Pick: Shapovalov in 5

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(28) Kevin Anderson vs. Borna Coric

Coric stunned No. 4 seed Alexander Zverev 3-6, 7-5, 7-6(1), 7-6(4) on Wednesday night. Now he has an equally tough task of following up that performance just two days later, and he will have to do so against an extremely tough opponent who already leads their head-to-head series 2-0. Anderson got the best of the young Croat 6-2, 7-6(1) two years ago in Winston-Salem and 6-3, 6-2 a few months later on the indoor hard courts of Basel.

Anderson has dealt with all kinds of arm problems in recent seasons, but he is back in fine form now. The 2015 U.S. Open quarterfinalist is 25-15 in 2017 with a recent runner-up performance in Washington, D.C. and straight-set beatdowns this week of J.C. Aragone and Ernests Gulbis. Coric is an even 19-19 this year, and he has plateaued just a bit at N0. 61 in the world–29 spots behind Anderson. The 20-year-old had been 2-6 in his last eight matches prior to reaching the Winston-Salem quarterfinals. Coric has not proven that he has the consistency to back up big victories in the following match, and he has the additional problem of facing a big-hitting player who has picked up a ton of confidence over the past month.

Pick: Anderson in 4

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