Learner Tien vs Jakub Mensik Expert Tips and Best Bets | September 5

The third round of the US Open continues on Saturday, with numerous intriguing matchups set to take place across the course of the day as the remaining players look for a spot in the Round of 16. Among our best bets of the day include, interestingly enough, matchups between the 14th and 17th seeds in both the men’s and women’s side of the draw, while elsewhere we take a look at Karen Kachanov’s third round clash fresh off a brilliant victory against Felix Auger-Aliassime. Take a look at all of our bets and the logic behind them below.

Learner Tien vs Jakub Mensik: Tien to win | $1.72 with Betista

This looms as a close match on paper, with just three spots separating these two in the world rankings – Tien entered this tournament as the 14th seed, and Mensik the 17th. Both have enjoyed career-best performances at Grand Slams this year, with Tien making it through to the quarterfinals at the Australian Open and Mensik advancing to the semis at Roland Garros, but Tien’s form has been better in recent months. After a disappointing showing at Wimbledon, he advanced through to the semis in Montreal with a number of strong wins over very capable opponents. Mensik, meanwhile, has struggled the last few months. He too lost early at Wimbledon, needing five sets to beat the 123rd ranked player in the world before losing to an aging Grigor Dmitrov, and since then his only wins have come against quite lowly ranked players while he’s struggled virtually every time he’s met a player in the top 50. In their current form, Tien looks like the value here.

Karen Kachanov vs Benjamin Bonzi: Kachanov to win | $1.50 with Zoccer

Kachanov enters this match fresh off a massive scalp, having fought back from a set down against 3rd seed Felix Auger-Aliassime to win 6-7 6-3 6-2 6-2 in the second round, an incredibly impressive performance from the 30-year-old. He now inherits the 3rd seed’s draw and has a chance to make a deep run at the US Open – an event at which he’s only surpassed the third round once, but when he did he made a semi-final. Benjamin Bonzi is not an easybeat, but this is a significant drop in quality of opposition for Kachanov after taking on Aliassime, and if he plays even remotely like he did in that match he will be cruising through this one. Bonzi has made the third round of majors numerous times in his career – this is the fifth, to be exact – but never before has he made it past this stage. With Kachanov in the form that he is, it’s hard to see that changing, and even at around $1.50 with most betting sites this looks like decent value.

Alexandra Eala vs Iva Jovic: Eala to win | $2.02 with BetandPlay

In a fun quirk for the numbers lovers among you, this is the second match among our best bets of the day in which the 14th seed will take on the 17th seed. Unlike in the Tien vs Mensik match, however, this time around we’re looking at the underdog as the value pick. The 21-year-old Eala has taken a monumental leap forward in recent months, securing a career-best fourth round finish at Wimbledon before winning the Mubadala DC Open in Washington, along the way beating 10th ranked Elina Svitolina, 13th ranked Naomi Osaka, and then 3rd ranked Jessica Pegula in the final. That was an unbelievable performance from the Philippino and showed what she is capable of, and she is now looming as a genuine threat to go deep into this tournament. Equally, however, Jovic has rapidly risen to prominence this year at just 18 years of age, making at least the third round in all four Grand Slams including a quarter-final at the Aus Open. She has a very bright future and has claimed some impressive scalps this year, but rarely has she been able to beat the best of the best, and certainly not to the extent of Eala in recent months. This should be a cracking match between two up and coming stars, but at better than even money on the betting apps, Eala looks like the pick.