Wednesday, September 01, 2021 – 11:00 AM EDT
Marcos Giron, at 28, may finally be starting to reach his full potential. A late bloomer, the American has continued dominating the hardcourt scene across the globe, elevating his ranking to No. 64 in the world. He was able to pick up a win at the US Open last year in a thrilling win over Australian Marc Polmans, and i think he’ll achieve new heights with a trip to the third round here in Flushing Meadows this year.
The man who will stand in his way is none other than British No. 1 Dan Evans. The top-30 player has had a whale of a few years, putting some past issues behind him and focusing on tennis. He’s developed a masterful game, becoming one of the world class players on tour with his signature slice backhand and his stellar net play.
That’s just not the man we’ve seen since Evans contracted COVID-19, however. The Brit has fallen out of form, losing five of six in the lead-up to the US Open before needing to dig deep to pull out a four-set win over Thiago Monteiro in the first round. His wins have been less than convincing, and his 8-8 record on the surface would show that he’s fallen from grace a bit when it comes to his play on what once was a great surface for him.
Giron is on the opposite end of the spectrum. He’s won six out of his last eight matches, falling in a closer encounter against Alexander Bublik in Cincinnati before picking up some wins en route to the Winston-Salem quarterfinals. He turned around and beat Antoine Hoang, a pesky qualifier, in straight sets on Monday in what was an impressive feat. The Frenchman was really pushing Giron.
Speaking of which, that’s what Giron does best — and what he will use to win this match. The American pushes the ball expertly, which makes him a very dangerous opponent on faster surfaces. His heavy, flat shots will drive Evans back beyond the baseline, where he’s at his weakest. The Brit is most dangerous when he can move forward and continue attacking, so this is going to be a precarious position for him to be in.For my best bets, I’m backing Giron to win this match with confidence. I think he’s playing the better tennis at the moment and should breeze through this one.
Tennis Pick: Giron ML +100 with Bovada (visit our Bovada Review)
Wednesday, September 01, 2021 - 01:00 PM EDT
Speaking of Winston-Salem, that’s where Emil Ruusuvuori made a big run and reminded us all of how good he can be on hardcourts. He’s now 20-10 on the surface after his trip to the semifinals, where he was disposed of easily by Ilya Ivashka, and his play on hardcourts this year has been nothing short of solid; he even beat Alex Zverev at a Masters 1000 earlier in the year.
With that being said, not many are ready to step up to the level that Roberto Bautista-Agut presents. The Spaniard is one of the most consistent groundstrokers in the world, packing a punch with his precise shots on the lines and his ability to extend rallies and never tire. We hadn’t seen much of that from RBA in the lead-up to the US Open, but in his first-round win over Nick Kyrgios that’s exactly what we saw.
Bautista-Agut returned to form, hitting lines everywhere. Most impressive of all was the fact that he won so many free points off of his first serve, which is usually a big weakness. While some of it was due to Kyrgios heavily guessing where RBA would serve, it was also spinning away from the Aussie off the T, which is downright impossible to get back in play. He also disguised the serve incredibly well with his tosses.
However you want to slice it, RBA is back and looks refreshed and ready to go after a week off. The fatigue of playing so many matches combined with the mental strength it’s going to require to be competitive with RBA should get to Ruusuvuori here, and I think he will fall in straight sets. With that, this set spread line is a great way to back the Spaniard.
Tennis Pick: Bautista-Agut -1.5 Sets (-110) with Bovada
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.