[Tennis- US Open] 28.8/ 17:00 B.Shelton- P.Cachin

[Radu]

[Tennis- US Open] 28.8/ 17:00 B.Shelton- P.Cachin

The "I know Ben Shelton should win this but I don't totally trust him to make it easy" bet. This was one I played (successfully) as a POTD in the first round at Wimbledon, and we're going back to it here. Shelton's underwhelming stretch since his run to the Australian Open QFs back in January continued through the pre-USO hardcourt season, as he went 2-4 in four tournaments in North America. The losses in his last two tournaments leading up to the USO weren't terrible -- competitive 2-0 losses to Carlos Alcaraz and Stefanos Tsitsipas -- but all in all we're still looking at a guy for whom the reputation is kind of overshadowing the actual results.

Nonetheless, his matchup today with Pedro Cachin is one he should win. Cachin, who cracked the top-50 for the first time in his career earlier this summer, is a clay specialist through and through, which is why his odds in this match against the American are so long (Cachin is currently around 5.00 to win). But even so, there are some points independent of Shelton's sketchy track record suggesting the Argentine keeps this somewhat close.

As mentioned, he's having the best season of his career, having recently won his first ever tour title and having posted several strong results this year.

The clay tournaments he's done well on have mostly been on faster clay surfaces -- such as in Gstaad (about as fast of a clay court as you'll find, thanks to the altitude in Switzerland, and he won the title here) and to a lesser extent in Madrid (faster-than-average for clay courts, again in part due to altitude, and it's where he reached the round of 16 in a Masters event as well as the final of a Challenger). He hasn't played in a hardcourt event since the spring, but this is at least a possible indicator that he may be able to translate his recent clay success to the hard courts.

Cachin has shown up for Slams recently. He actually made the third round of the US Open last year (something Shelton, who lost in the first round, did not do), he covered the spread in both of his matchups at the French Open (a not-as-close-as-it-looks five-set win over Dominic Thiem and an as-close-as-it-looks five-set loss to top-30 player Borna Coric), and he didn't get completely wiped off the court when he had the unlucky draw of facing Novak Djokovic in the first round at Wimbledon. (He lost 6-3, 6-3, 7-6. Again, covering the spread!) The stage isn't too big for him.

I do think Shelton pulls this one out. The line is what it is for a reason and it would be pretty surprising to see him fumble a bag that big. But I'd be similarly surprised if Cachin doesn't give him a fight.

over 34,5 @1,85 Bet365