2023 U.S. Open tennis odds: Big Tuesday for American men as Taylor Fritz faces Novak Djokovic, Frances Tiafoe plays Ben Shelton in all-USA quarterfinal
It's a big day for American men at the U.S. Open.
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Tuesday is the biggest day at the U.S. Open from New York in years for American men, as all three still standing will play in the quarterfinals. At 1:30 p.m. ET, No. 9 seed Taylor Fritz faces No. 2 and all-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic of Serbia, while at 8:30 p.m. ET No. 10 Frances Tiafoe takes on a fellow American, unseeded Ben Shelton. Click here for expert picks on both matches.
The winners of today's two matches would meet in one of the semifinals. It's the first time since 2005 that three Americans have made it this far at the U.S. Open. If the chalk holds, the other semifinal would feature No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz and No. 3 Daniil Medvedev.
Djokovic is the +100 favorite to win the tournament for a fourth time. It would be his first win in Queens since 2018. His 23 overall Grand Slam titles are one better than Rafael Nadal (out injured) for the most in men's history. Djokovic is 23-1 in Grand Slam matches this year, with his only loss coming to Alcaraz (+130 second favorite to win tournament) in the Wimbledon final. Djokovic is 12-0 in U.S. Open quarterfinals all-time and a -700 for Tuesday's match.
Fritz, who is +450 to pull off the upset, is 0-10 vs. top-10 opponents at the majors. Fritz is 0-7 all-time vs. Djokovic. They met not too long ago on the hardcourts in Cincinnati in a U.S. Open warmup and Djokovic won 6-0, 6-4. That's their only 2023 meeting, and they have never faced off at the U.S. Open.
We are guaranteed at least one American male in the U.S. Open semifinals with Tiafoe a -250 favorite over Shelton (+190) in Tuesday's other quarterfinal match. It's the first Grand Slam tournament quarterfinal stage in the Open Era (since 1968) with multiple Black American men.
Ranked No. 47 in the world, Shelton is the lowest-ranked quarterfinalist -- male or female -- and the only unseeded player remaining in either draw. He leads all players in aces in this tournament with 62 through four rounds and had the fastest serve of the event (149 mph) during his Round of 16 win over Tommy Paul. The 20-year-old Shelton, who won the NCAA singles title at Florida in 2022, is the youngest American man to reach the quarterfinals at Flushing Meadows since Andy Roddick did so at the same age in 2002.
Taifoe has been money in tiebreaks, winning nine straight at this tournament (one this year, eight in 2022). This is the first career professional meeting between Tiafoe (+3000 to win tournament) and Shelton (+7000 longshot). The last American man to win a Grand Slam tournament was Roddick at the 2003 U.S. Open. None have even reached a final of any Slam since 2009.
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