2024-09-04 09:25:02
Frances Tiafoe clearly is comfortable under the lights at the US Open.
The Maryland native has made it to the quarterfinals in Flushing for the third year in a row and will look to make it two trips to the semifinals in his last three trips to the Billie Jean King Tennis Center with a win over Grigor Dimitrov on Tuesday night.
Dimitrov is no stranger to Grand Slam semifinals — he’s made it to three in his illustrious career — but he hasn’t been to the final four of a major since 2019.
This could be the last chance for the 33-year-old to win one of the big ones.
Dimitrov vs. Tiafoe prediction
It’s been an interesting 2024 season for both Tiafoe and Dimitrov.
For the former, things were pointing in the wrong direction for much of the year before Tiafoe found his form during the back half of the North American summer swing.
The 26-year-old was bounced in Round 1 of the Canadian Masters, but he responded with a run to the finals at the Cincinnati Masters and has been terrific at the US Open.
Tiafoe didn’t drop a set in his first two matches and then pulled the mini-upset against rising American Ben Shelton in the Round of 32.
He made relatively quick work of the in-form Alexei Popyrin in the Round of 16 to make it back to the quarters.
Tiafoe’s offensive weapons have been on full display during his run, but he’s also been buoyed by raucous crowds and has done a wonderful job of riding the wave while not getting carried away.
In previous years, it would be fair to be suspicious of Dimitrov’s ability to keep his wits in this kind of situation, but the Bulgarian has shown a very stoic side to his game this year and has hardly put a foot wrong at the US Open.
Dimitrov didn’t drop a set in his first three matches and then was able to hang in and defeat Andrey Rublev in a five sets in the Round of 16.
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Both players possess terrific offensive weapons and there is no real edge in experience, so you’re really splitting hairs in this situation.
Dimitrov has been the more consistent player overall this year and does have a 3-1 record against Tiafoe, but even that is getting too deep.
There’s very little between these two right now and this should set up for a classic under the lights.
The Bet: Over 4.5 sets (+195, FanDuel)
