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.
Top Tier
Victoria Azarenka ($10,800) over Fiona Ferro
This is a big step up in class for Ferro, who hasn't won a grand slam main draw match since 2021 and got in via a wildcard. Her only grand slam appearance this year was a 2&0 loss to Rebecca Petersonat the French Open, and she lost in the first round of qualifying here last year. Although Azarenka has had a mediocre year by her standards, this is a great opportunity for her to get off to a quick start without dropping many games.
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina ($9,400) over Marcos Giron
Davidovich Fokina had an excellent run in Toronto, dismantling J.J. Wolf 0&2 and Alexander Zverev 1&2 before ultimately losing to Alex de Minaur in the semis. The Spainiard's game translates well to all surfaces, and he's made the Round of 16 in two of his three trips to NYC. Giron on the other hand has had a disappointing summer, losing in the first round of D.C. and Winstom-Salem, while also failing to make it out of qualifying in Cincinnati. I think he'll be outclassed here.
Honorable Mention: Iga Swiatek ($11,400) over Peterson, Frances Tiafoe ($11,300) over Learner Tien
Middle Tier
Brandon Nakashima ($8,500) over Laslo Djere
Djere is the 32 seed for the event but is actually the underdog in this matchup against Nakashima, who has made it out of the first round in all three of his appearances at the U.S. Open. Djere on the other hand is a clay court specialist who has lost in the first round here in four consecutive years. He failed to get out of qualifying in Cincinnati and is coming off a 3&0 loss to Sebastian Baez last week in Winston-Salem. Nakashima should feel comfortable in this environment and could get a straight sets win.
Lin Zhu ($8,400) over Mayar Sherif
Zhu is coming off a semifinal run in Cleveland in which she routinely took down Caroline Garcia 4&1 along the way. The 29-year-old is having the best year of her career, making the fourth round of the Australian Open in which she defeated Maria Sakkari. This is a good spot for her against Sherif, who is 0-2 at the U.S. Open and is much better on clay than hard courts.
Honorable Mention: Adrian Mannarino ($8,900) over Yosuke Watanuki, Taylor Townsend ($8,000) over Varvara Gracheva
Value Tier
Zhizhen Zhang ($5,600) over J.J. Wolf
After starting off the summer strong with trips to the semis in Atlanta and the quarters in D.C., Wolf has lost four of his last five sets 6-2 or worse. Granted those were to Davidovich Fokina and de Minaur, but it's not the form you'd like to see heading into a major. Meanwhile, Zhang reached a new career-high ranking this summer and has a win over Taylor Fritz this spring. He's the underdog but capable of pulling off the upset.
Clervie Ngounoue ($5,500) over Daria Saville
The 17-year-old Ngounoue is an up-and-coming American who got in via wildcard by winning the Billie Jean King Girls' 18s National Championship earlier this month. Her resume includes winning the Wimbledon juniors this year, and she also beat top-40 player Anna Blinkova in D.C. This is about as good of a first-round matchup as she could've hoped for against Saville, who just returned in June from an ACL injury last fall and has had uninspiring results since. Ngounoue will have the crowd on her side, too.
Honorable Mention: Anna Karolina Schmiedlova ($7,100) over Kateryna Baindl, Nuno Borges ($6,600) over Sebastian Ofner
