US Open Day 1

Pella v Ruud

Argentine Guido Pella opens his US open account against Casper Ruud, and the South American should be a stronger favourite than the 4/5 currently available with a number of firms.

The pair have never met yet - Ruud is just 20 years old - and despite never being a real hard courter, Pella has a winning record on the surface and can use his experience over this longer format to reach the second round. He has a 6-6 record on hard courts over the past 18 months against players ranked 25th-100th, winning 65% of service points and 37% of receiving points.

Ruud has lost all four matches in that quality bracket over the same time frame, winning just 59% of service points and 30% of receiving points. Ruud is also more known for his clay court skills, so they should be on an even platform here. Back quality to prevail at 4/5.

2.5pts Pella to beat Ruud at 4/5

T-H Fritz v M Zverev

Taylor Harry Fritz will look to avenenge a 2-1 head-to-head record when he meets Mischa Zverev on Monday, and a career 109-56 hard court record should give him a decent chance in this match-up.

It's bound to be a close match here, and I'd rather be against Zverev who would surely like conditions a little faster than we tend to see at Flushing Meadows. He has an excellent indoors record overall, which lessens as the court speeds drop. In fact, he has strong losing records on all surfaces except grass against Top 100 players over the past three seasons.

Fritz by contrast is 21-21 on hard courts against top 100 players, and just looks to have the edge in both serve and receiving mode. He should probably be favourite here, which makes the even money quotes worthy of a small interest.

1pt Fritz to beat Zverev at evens

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