Day Five US Open Tennis Picks, Odds & Best Bet Today 8/30 | Pickswise

The U.S. Open – the fourth and final major of the Tennis season – heads into round 3 on Friday. Things are starting to heat up in New York, where a blockbuster Friday lineup is headlined by a showdown between fellow Americans Ben Selton and Frances Tiafoe. Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev, Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff are also taking the court.

Let’s take a look at the best bets to be made on the Day 5 schedule. 

Ben Shelton ML over Frances Tiafoe (-146) 

Get your popcorn ready for the rematch. Shelton and Tiafoe, 2 of the biggest stars in American Tennis, faced each other in the U.S. Open quarterfinals last summer — when Shelton prevailed in 4 sets. This time around it’s a third-round affair. Although the stage is a bit different, the result should stay the same. After all, Shelton has only improved since their meeting 12 months ago whereas Tiafoe has seemingly taken a step back. Moreover, Shelton also beat his older compatriot in the Houston final this spring — thus improving to 2-0 lifetime in the head-to-head series. This match is on Shelton’s racket; he has the bigger serve and the more powerful all-around Game. If he is on, there is not much Tiafoe can do. As a slight underdog, the former University of Florida standout has good value.

Paula Badosa -1.5 sets over Elena-Gabriela Ruse (-158) 

Once #2 in the world, Badosa was a serious Grand Slam title contender earlier in her career. A rash of injuries sent her on a downward spiral in recent seasons, but the resurgent Spaniard is back with a vengeance. She is still flying under the radar a bit since she is not too far into her comeback, but that gives her good betting value — both on the futures market and in individual matches. Badosa is a massive favorite on Friday, which does not make the money line particularly intriguing; the -1.5 set spread, however, is a strong play. She did not drop a set in the first 2 rounds and did not even get pushed to a tiebreaker. As for Ruse, she is #122 in the rankings and plays better on clay than she does on hard courts.

Emma Navarro ML over Marta Kostyuk (-160) 

I have been on the Navarro bandwagon all season long and there is no reason to get off it at this point. The 23-year-old American has been outstanding basically throughout the entirety of the 2024 campaign. The only thing missing heading into Wimbledon was a deep run at a major and she promptly advanced to the quarterfinals. Navarro could go even deeper in New York. She has home-court advantage in front of the American crowd and she is playing on her preferred hard-court surface. The former University of Virginia star has been dominant through 2 rounds, losing a total of 4 Games. Moreover, she just won her only previous meeting with Kostyuk just a few weeks ago in Toronto — and did so in straight sets. Count on more of the same continuing on Friday.