Alexander Zverev is the favorite to win the U.S. Open. Best Image / BACKGRID See more of our coverage in your search results.
Add The New York Post on Google Alexander Zverev couldn’t have asked for a more agreeable draw at the 2026 U.S. Open.
With Jannik Sinner out of the tournament, Novak Djokovic eliminated early, and Carlos Alcaraz ousted by Ben Shelton in the quarterfinals, the door is wide open for the German to win his maiden U.S. Open and the second Grand Slam of his career (and season).
Zverev is a massive -910 favorite to win his quarterfinal match against World No. 70 Botic van de Zandschulp on Wednesday night, and he’s +110 to win the tournament.
Zverev has yet to play a top-20 opponent in Flushing, but he’s made quite the meal out of his first four matches. The 29-year-old needed five sets to defeat Lorenzo Sonego in Round 1 and then was taken the distance by Quentin Halys in his next match.
By the third round, Zverev had already spent nine and a half hours on court. He desperately needed to find his game, or else his legs would be zapped by the business end of the tournament.
Botic van de Zandschulp is into the U.S. Open quarterfinals for the second time in his career. AP Photo/Adam Hunger The German did just that, making quick work of Alejandro Tabilo and Luciano Darderi in the next two rounds.
While Zverev stumbled through the early rounds and then found his rhythm, van de Zandschulp did the opposite. He breezed through Jan Choinski and World No. 7 Alex de Minaur in six sets and under five hours, but was then dragged into five-set marathons against Zizou Bergs and Arthur Gea.
Both of these players have spent a similar amount of time on court, but Zverev should be much fresher after breezing through his past two matches, while van de Zandschulp needed nearly 10 hours to get through the previous two rounds.
That puts heaps of pressure on van de Zandschulp to get ahead early in this match, as he likely won’t have enough in the tank to mount a comeback against the third-best player in the world.
Look for Zverev to get ahead early and put van de Zandschulp away with relative ease.
The Play: Zverev -7.5 games (+110, DraftKings)
Michael Leboff is a long-suffering Islanders fan, but a long-profiting sports bettor with 10 years of experience in the gambling industry. He loves using game theory to help punters win bracket pools, find long shots, and learn how to beat the market in mainstream and niche sports.
