Andy Schooler previews Wednesday’s second-round matches at the US Open at Flushing Meadows.
Tennis tips: Today's US Open best bets
1pt Tomas Martin Etcheverry to beat Jacob Fearnley at 4/5 (bet365, BOYLE Sports)
Tomas Martin Etcheverry v Jacob Fearnley
I’ve been writing tennis previews for a long time but I’m not sure I’ve ever had a first round like the one that’s just unfolded in New York.
So far we’ve had a 5/2 shot beaten from match point up, seen another underdog blow a lead of two sets to one and 5-2, and then watched a near-certain 11/4 winner turn into a void due to a retirement.
Perhaps that's partly why nothing jumped off the page from Wednesday’s order of play, but I’ve come down on the side of Etcheverry.
The Argentine has been on a poor run of late but will have regained some confidence from the manner of his opening-round win in New York.
He enjoyed plenty of success on return against Vit Kopriva, breaking the Czech seven times en route to a straight-sets victory.
In contrast, Fearnley can consider himself fortunate to have reached this stage.
First of all, he’s already lost in New York – beaten by Jurij Rodionov in the final round of qualifying.
And then he was the man who found himself 5-2 down in the fourth set of the aforementioned match, against Martin Landaluce before the Spaniard’s choke.
Even then, Fearnley struggled to get over the line, finally doing so after more than four hours on court.
That aspect may prove a difficulty here as it was the longest match of the Briton’s career. It was also only the second five-setter he’s played. The first came at Wimbledon earlier this year and he duly lost his following match in straight sets.
He served 16 double faults in that Landaluce match and if those serving issues – which have been a theme throughout his career – continue, Etcheverry should be able to take advantage given the way he played the other day.
I’d expect him to be pretty solid from the back of the court and the more consistent player can win this.
Daniel Merida v Andrey Rublev
My regular search for underdogs clearly hasn’t gone well so far, although at the same time, it’s not been far away.
On Wednesday, Merida is a tempting prospect.
The rising Spaniard has helped this column to some decent profits in recent times, winning as a 40/1 shot in Umag and also pocketing some nice match wins in Cincinnati.
In short, his form is strong and he’s been striking the ball very well from the back of the court, doing so again in a straight-sets win over Marton Fucsovics on Sunday.
That said, he’s not beaten anyone ranked as high as Rublev during the current hardcourt swing.
The Russian is a Jekyll and Hyde character. He remains very capable, although the fact that he’s now slipped outside the world’s top 20 shows he’s not as consistent as he once was.
He showed both sides in the same match in round one, coming from two sets down to beat lucky loser Otto Virtanen, saving match point in the process.
One suspects Merida won’t let him off the hook if he falls into such a position again, although I also know Rublev is more than capable of producing better.
Maybe if confidence was higher, I’d have gone with Merida at 6/5 but I was thinking he might have been a bit bigger than that when I first sat down to write this piece, so I’ll swerve on this occasion.
Posted 07:20 BST on 02/09/2026
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