Tennis Parlay Alexander Zverev + Frances Tiafoe: US Open

# US Open 🇺🇸

• Alexander Zverev and Botic Van de Zandschulp have spent exactly the same time on the courts in the last 10 days: 16 sets each, 167 games for the German, 171 for the Dutchman. Except the order is not the same, and that's where it all plays out.

• Zverev played his 2 matches in 5 sets in the first two rounds, against Lorenzo Sonego and Quentin Halys. Since then, he has dispatched Alejandro Tabilo and Luciano Darderi without dropping a set: 58 games between the two.

• Van de Zandschulp did the opposite. His 2 five-set matches are his last two encounters. Zizou Bergs, then Arthur Gea on Monday night, coming back from 2 sets down, with 2 tiebreaks won, one at 9-7. 112 games in these 2 matches, almost double the German's.

• And here's the figure that decides this handicap: since June 1st, Zverev has won the first set in 21 of his 22 matches. Van de Zandschulp has lost it in 10 of his 21.

• I expect to see the German take advantage of a physically drained Van de Zandschulp.

• On the other side, the first men's semifinal. Frances Tiafoe and Ben Shelton have faced each other 2 times in Grand Slams in their careers, and both times it was at the US Open. Quarterfinal 2023: 4 sets. Third round 2024: 5 sets.

• Both are averaging over 10.3 games per set this week, the highest total in the entire draw. Shelton has needed 4 sets or more in 4 of his 5 matches here.

• And they're both coming off a 5-set quarterfinal tiebreak win. Shelton against Carlos Alcaraz, 4 hours and 28 minutes, ending at 3:33 am, the latest in tournament history. Tiafoe against Alex Michelsen, coming back from 2 sets down.

• I necessarily expect to see Frances Tiafoe capable of taking a set from Shelton, and to surprise him in this underdog position, especially for a spot in a Grand Slam final.