Betting-Previews.com returns with another set of 2021 US Open tennis betting previews and predictions for two matches, slated for Wednesday, September 1. Today, we take a look at two 2021 US Open round 2 games, including Cori Gauff vs Sloane Stephens and Ekaterina Alexandrova vs Kamilla Rakhimova.
Ekaterina Alexandrova vs Kamilla Rakhimova
When: Wednesday, September 1 – 13:00 EDT
Where: USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York
Weather: Cloudy, 22°
Ekaterina Alexandrova hasn’t impressed anyone of late. She is 2-3 in her last five outings and is seemingly struggling with her form.
Over that stretch, the 26-year-old Russian lost against Nadia Podoroska (0-2) in the 1/16 finals of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Jennifer Brady (0-2) in Cincinnati, and against Irina Begu (0-2) in Chicago. On a more positive note, she won against Sara Errani (6-3, 6-2) in the opening round of the 2021 US Open, even though she served ten double faults.
Moreover, 26-year-old also made seven aces, making it very clear that her serve is her biggest strength. Furthermore, the Russian has had a solid performance and was well on top at the end. All in all, while Alexandrova hasn’t been too impressive of late, she had shown a lot of quality last time out.
Her next opponent, Kamilla Rakhimova, came from a set down to defeat Kristina Mladenovic (2-1) and is now through to the second round. It marks her second R2 appearance in a Grand Slam tennis tournament, following the 2020 Australian Open, when she lost against Maria Sakkari (6-7, 2-6).
Her win against Mladenovic marked Rakhimova’s third W across her last five. During that stretch, she also beat world no.159 Lizette Cabrera (2-1) and world no.205 Usue Maitane Arconada (2-1). On the other side, Rakhimova lost against world no.75 Amanda Anisimova (0-2) and world no.115 Kristyna Pliskova (0-2) in the US Open qualifiers.
We’re siding with Alexandrova to win in straight sets here. Even though her form of late hasn’t been great, most of her games end in straight sets – as evident from her last 25 games, 21 of which ended 2-0. As long as the Russian can take the lead, she should get it done.
Prediction: Ekaterina Alexandrova -1.5 sets – 1.85 at Unibet
Cori Gauff vs Sloane Stephens
When: Wednesday, September 1 – 19:00 EDT
Where: USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York
Weather: Cloudy, 21°
Cori Gauff and Sloane Stephens will clash for the first time in their careers in what promises to be an exciting affair. Gauff made it into R2 of the 2021 US Open with a three-setter against Magda Linette (2-1), which is a solid result on paper, but to be fair, Linette should have won on the day.
The Polish player took the lead (7-5) and looked set to close it out with 2-0, albeit the 17-year-old received support from the home crowd, which pushed her over the line with 6-3 and 6-4 in the final two sets.
This time out, Gauff won’t be able to count on the fans since she is facing a local opponent, who should receive just as much support as her.
Sloane Stephens made it to the second round of play with an excellent performance against Madison Keys, who she beat 2-1. Stephens won the first set 6-3, completely collapsed in the second (1-6), but closed out the deal with a 9-7 tiebreaker in the third set.
It marked Stephens’ only second victory in her last five outings, having lost to Caroline Garcia (1-2) in Cincinnati, Aryna Sabalenka (1-2) in Montreal, and Danielle Rose Collins (1-2) in San Jose prior. Her only other win over that stretch happened against world no.51 Dayana Yastremska (2-1) in Canada.
You could make a case for Gauff, but Stephens has shown enough last time out for us to trust her for this match. She has won a tough game against keys, and if she can build on that success here, Stephens should be able to edge out her compatriot and take one step closer to emulating her success in 2017, when she won her maiden Grand Slam at the US Open.
Prediction: Sloane Stephens to win – 3.15 at Betfair
