U.S. Open R2 previews and predictions: Bublik vs. Sock, Monfils vs. Johnson

A huge contingent of American men will be taking the court on Thursday at the U.S. Open, including Jack Sock and Steve Johnson. They are set for respective showdowns against seeded opponents Alexander Bublik and Gael Monfils.

(WC) Jack Sock vs. (31) Alexander Bublik

Sock is in the midst of yet another comeback from injury as he finds himself down at No. 184 in the rankings. The 28-year-old American obviously needed a wild card to get into the U.S. Open, and he started to make the most of it by beating Yoshihito Nishioka 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 in his opening match. Sock now owns five ATP-level victories in 2021 and three have come against Nishioka.

Up next for the former world No. 8 on Thursday is a first-ever battle with Bublik. Much unlike Sock, Bublik has played tons and tons of tennis this season–basically every week possible. The 37th-ranked Kazakh has a solid 29-23 record to show for his efforts with runner-up performances in Antalya and Singapore and a 6-0, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 defeat of Yannick Hanfmann on Tuesday. Bublik is not one of the most reliable players on tour (he hit 10 double-faults against Hanfmann, for example), but he is one of the most talented and for the most part he is beginning to live up to it. It should also be noted that Sock has only two top-50 wins dating back to the start of 2019 and none since the 2020 French Open.

Pick: Bublik in 4

(17) Gael Monfils vs. Steve Johnson

Monfils and Johnson will be going head-to-head for the fourth time in their careers on Thursday. All three of their previous encounters went Monfils’ way, but all three required final sets–at the 2017 Montreal Masters, in Vienna (2018), and in Stuttgart (2019). Nobody was hit harder by tennis’ Covid-19 interruption in 2020, but Monfils is finally starting to enjoy the sport again and in turn is winning some matches. The 20th-ranked Frenchman reached the quarterfinals in Toronto and the third round in Cincinnati, and he destroyed Federico Coria 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 on Tuesday.

Johnson evened up his 2021 match record at 10-10 with a 5-7, 7-6(8), 7-6(8), 6-3 victory over Maximilian Marterer. It was a much-needed result for the 87th-ranked American, who advanced to quarterfinal in Los Cabos and Washington, D.C. but then lost in Toronto qualifying and in the Winston-Salem first round–both times to opponents outside the top 70. With Monfils reenergized and playing in front of a packed New York crowd, he has every reason to keep his momentum going against an opponent he knows how to beat.

Pick: Monfils in 4