Andy Schooler previews Monday\u2019s matches at the US Open at Flushing Meadows.<\/p>\n
Roman Safiullin v Carlos Alcaraz<\/p>\n
When I saw Alcaraz had decided to play and was still the tournament favourite, my immediate view was \u2018what?\u2019 This, after all, is a player who hasn\u2019t played for more than four months due to a wrist injury \u2013 always a concern for any tennis player.<\/p>\n
For those who haven\u2019t read my outright preview<\/a>, I remain firmly of the view that he\u2019s highly unlikely to win the title.<\/p>\n Given the layers\u2019 position of making Alcaraz a clear favourite around the 5\/2 mark, I had hoped this match would provide some immediate value to take him on.<\/p>\n After all, Safiullin is a player who enjoys the big stage and taking on the top names.<\/p>\n He reached the last 16 at Wimbledon recently, losing eventually in four sets to Novak Djokovic.<\/p>\n His other matches against top-20 opponents this season have seen him beat Andrey Rublev in five sets and lose to Casper Ruud, also in a fifth and final set.<\/p>\n In addition, Safiullin has beaten Alcaraz in the past, doing so at the Paris Masters in 2023.<\/p>\n However, I did think he might be more than 4\/1 to win the match and that price filters down through the other markets.<\/p>\n Safiullin to win a set was an option I was thinking \u2013 he\u2019s now won a set in five of his last seven matches against top-20 players \u2013 but that\u2019s only 4\/6.<\/p>\n I could maybe play at a slightly better 8\/11 about there being over 3.5 sets but that\u2019s still a short price to pull the trigger at.<\/p>\n I still have in my mind the way Jannik Sinner returned after a similar period out last season \u2013 he immediately found his groove.<\/p>\n The difference is that while Sinner was fully fit physically during his spell out (he was serving a controversial drugs ban), Alcaraz has not been able to practice as he wished and I can see Alcaraz struggling.<\/p>\n Valentin Vacherot v Aleksandar Kovacevic<\/p>\n The 2026 season was always going to be opportunity for Vacherot, although whether he would grab it with both hands was open to question.<\/p>\n He famously qualified for and won last year\u2019s Shanghai Masters, propelling himself into the elite from outside the top 200.<\/p>\n It was a huge leap and many questioned whether he\u2019d be able to justify his position towards the top of the rankings.<\/p>\n The truth is he\u2019s done pretty well, without really suggesting he\u2019d challenge for a top title again.<\/p>\n His best effort came in Monte Carlo where he did make the last four but shortly after that came an injury which forced him out of Wimbledon. Since returning, he\u2019s gone just 1-4 on the tour and has looked well below his best.<\/p>\n He arrives in New York having lost four on the spin.<\/p>\n Kovacevic could well take advantage.<\/p>\n The American has enjoyed a timely return to form, reaching the quarter-finals in Winston-Salem last week where his serve was in good working order \u2013 an ideal tonic after a tough run.<\/p>\n He was a semi-finalist on quick hardcourts in Brisbane at the start of the year and should find conditions to his liking here.<\/p>\n With neither man great on return, I would not be surprised for tie-breaks to play a significant part here and that\u2019s where Kovacevic\u2019s greater confidence could prove crucial.<\/p>\n He\u2019ll also know he\u2019s won two of the pair\u2019s three previous meetings, as well as the only one played on a hardcourt.<\/p>\n Jurij Rodionov v Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard<\/p>\n All is not well in the world of Mpetshi Perricard, the Frenchman with arguably the biggest serve in tennis.<\/p>\n He arrives in New York having lost five in a row and, most worryingly, his serve has been broken 17 times across those matches. That\u2019s a high number for a man who has long prided himself on his booming first ball.<\/p>\n That big serve \u2013 and poor return game \u2013 has often seen Mpetshi Perricard involved in a large number of tie-breaks but, again, that\u2019s changed of late.<\/p>\n There has been no tie-break in five of his last seven matches which piqued my interest in the 7\/2 being offered about no breaker here.<\/p>\n It made me look a big deeper and I also discovered that Rodionov didn\u2019t play a tie-break in any of his qualifying matches, while only one of Mpetshi Perricard\u2019s seven previous sets at the US Open went the distance.<\/p>\n Of course, it\u2019s best-of-five in the Slams, so we need to factor that into our calculations but 7\/2 still feels a pretty big price.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve struggled to find an underdog I\u2019m particularly keen on for Monday\u2019s action \u2013 and after Sunday\u2019s long shot lost from match points up, that may not be a bad thing \u2013 so backing this looks a tempting alternative.<\/p>\n Posted 0730 BST on 31\/08\/2026<\/p>\n Safer gambling<\/p>\n We are committed in our support of safer gambling.<\/p>\n Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.<\/p>\n If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline \/ GamCare<\/a> on 0808 8020 133.<\/p>\n Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org<\/a> and gamblingtherapy.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Andy Schooler previews Monday\u2019s matches at the US Open at Flushing Meadows. 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