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One match that caught my sight is the NextGen battle between Alex De Minaur, class of ’99, and Frances Tiafoe, class of ’98. Both of them have been impressive in their first-round matches, winning quite easily. I have talked about De Minaur in the past, and you might already know everything there is to know about his background, his coach (Hewitt) and his playing style.
He crushed Taro Daniel in the first round, losing only 3 games in 3 sets. His recent hard court matches have shown his potential and reaching the final in Washington after good wins to Pospisil, Chung, Johnson, and Rublev showed us he is up for the fight.
Tiafoe looked to be swingy in these past weeks, winning matches to Copil, Hurkacz, Raonic, Cecchinato, and Mannarino (in the first round here at US Open), but also losing to Baghdatis (2.52 dog), Goffin (6-0 6-3), Dimitrov (horrible shape), Shapovalov (even match).
These two players have met before, back in 2017, in the qualification of Brisbane, where our Aussie kid won 6-7 6-4 6-4. De Minaur has also improved quite a lot since then.
Considering the form of De Minaur in 2018 (2x ATP Finals, 1x ATP SF, 2x Challenger Finals, and 1x Challenger title), considering the last match between the two, also considering the fact that De Minaur never gives up, while Tiafoe is known for his tanking when things are not going his way, we can say for sure that these prices are wrongly set. I can see De Minaur being a small favorite in this match-up. Don’t forget about the Tiafoe “love” for high temperatures, while the Aussie plays great in those hard conditions.
Tiafoe might have the home advantage, but we have seen that De Minaur has the mindset of a champion and instead of panicking when the crowd isn’t on his side, he thrives and motivates himself quite nicely. I`m backing De Minaur to win with 8 units.
Pick: De Minaur
Odds: 2.28 @ Pinnacle
Stake: 8
Possible profit: 10.24
Event date: 30 August
