The U.S. Open is here! When it comes to DFS tennis, it doesn't get much bigger than opening day in New York City, with DraftKings featuring their $20 Stars and Stripes Slam contest and a $50k top prize. I'll guide you through some of the matches and my favorite plays for the slate, which starts at 11 a.m. EST.
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Top Tier
Taylor Fritz ($11,000) over Camilo Ugo Carabelli
This is an excellent first round draw for Fritz against Ugo Carabelli, who has only main one main draw grand slam appearance. The 25-year-old Argentinian spends most of his time at challengers and has previously failed to get out of the first round of U.S. Open qualifying the last two years. Fritz lost a mere 13 games combined across his first three matches in New York last year and could easily be the highest scoring player on the slate.
Paula Badosa ($10,600) over Viktorija Golubic
Bodasa has had a resurgence this summer, winning in D.C. and later making the semis of Cincinnati. Golubic is nearing the end of her career at 31-years-old and has never made it out of the first round of the U.S. Open in six appearances. She won just three games at Wimbledon and has recently dropped all the way down to playing $25k events. Badosa should be able to win this one quickly.
Honorable Mention: Novak Djokovic ($11,000) over Radu Albot, Ben Shelton ($10,500) over Dominic Thiem
Middle Tier
Juncheng Shang ($8,300) over Alexander Bublik
This is an interesting matchup between the up-and-coming 19-year-old Jerry Shang and veteran Bublik. Last year, Bublik seemed uninterested in his first round match, losing to Dominic Thiem in straight sets to move his career record at the U.S. Open under .500. Shang beat Ben Shelton en route to making the semis of Atlanta last month, and he also took Grigor Dimitrov to five sets at Wimbledon.
Ana Bogdan ($7,900) over Arantxa Rus
Bogdan is 4-0 in the head-to-head against Rus, so this should be a safe bet to get a win at the very least. Bogdan played in Cleveland last week where she beat Leylah Fernandez, so the game is in fine form. Rus on the other hand has struggled on the fast U.S. Open courts with a career 1-8 record, making this by far her worst grand slam. Not an exciting pick by any means, but that usually comes with low rostership.
Honorable Mention: Dominik Koepfer ($8,500) over Alexander Shevchenko, Sloane Stephens ($7,300) over Clara Burel
Value Tier
Christopher Eubanks ($6,600) over Arthur Rinderknech
The value tier is where the slates are often won as we'll have to go 6-0 to have a chance at winning a GPP and it's the only way to fit multiple $10k+ players in your lineup. Eubanks won the only prior meeting between these two, prevailing in a pair of tiebreakers last June. Although it hasn't been his best year, Eubanks had a nice run in Winston-Salem this past week, ultimately losing to Alex Michelsen in the quarters in a third-set breaker, while Rinderknech lost in the second round.
Brandon Nakashima $5,800 over Holger Rune
These two squared off last October in Shanghai, also on outdoor hard courts, and Nakashima rolled to a 6-0, 6-2 victory. He'll certainly have the home crowd support on the smaller Court 17 which can get very loud for the Americans. Nakashima also comes in with plenty of momentum, having beat Tommy Paul and Taylor Fritz in back-to-back tournaments. Rune is only 1-3 at the U.S. Open, making it the only slam in which he has a losing record.
Honorable Mention: Lucia Bronzetti ($6,200) over Lulu Sun, Marton Fucsovics ($5,900) over Jiri Lehecka
