US Open 2024: Aryna Sabalenka vs Elise Mertens preview, head-to-head, prediction, odds and pick
Match Details
Fixture: (2) Aryna Sabalenka vs (33) Elise Mertens
Date: September 1, 2024
Tournament: US Open 2024
Round: Fourth Round round (Round of 16)
Venue: USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, New York, United States
Category: Grand Slam
Surface: Hard
Prize money: $75,000,000
Live telecast: USA - ESPN | Canada - TSN | UK - Sky Sports | India - Sony Sports
Aryna Sabalenka vs Elise Mertens preview
Former doubles partners Aryna Sabalenka and Elise Mertens will face off against each other in the fourth round of the 2024 US Open. Sabalenka has been in tearaway form in 2024, winning 42 of the 53 matches she has played. The World No. 2 has won the Australian Open and the Cincinnati Open.
After securing straight sets victory against Priscilla Hon and Lucia Bronzetti in the first two rounds, the second seed faced her first stern test in New York when she faced 29th-seed Ekaterina Alexandrova in the third round. After dropping the first set, the Belarusian came back strongly, winning the match 2-6, 6-1, 6-2 to advance to the fourth round.
Elise Mertens has not been in exemplary form in 2024, as she had a 21-20 record before the US Open. The Belgian had some decent results on the hard courts, as he reached the final of the Hobart International at the beginning of the year, losing to Emma Navarro. She also reached the quarter-final of the Linz Open, losing to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
At the US Open, Mertens won a tough three-set match against Veronika Kedermetova in the first round. In the second round, she defeated Ajla Tomljanovic. The World No. 35 caused an upset in the third round when she defeated former US Open finalist and 14th seed Madison Keys after dropping the first set.
Aryna Sabalenka vs Elise Mertens head-to-head
Sabalenka has a dominant 7-2 lead in the head-to-head against Mertens. The Belarusian won the last encounter at the Australian Open last year.
Aryna Sabalenka vs Elise Mertens odds
(Odds are sourced from BetMGM)
Aryna Sabalenka vs Elise Mertens prediction
In her match against Alexandrova, Sabalenka won 69 percent of her first serve points. The second seed won 48 percent of the total return points in the match, that enabled her to break her opponent five times in the match. However, she dominantly played from the baseline alone, coming to the net only four times.
Mertens won 80 percent of her first serve points against Keys in her third-round match. However, the 33rd seed could only deliver 51 percent of her first serves and made 10 double faults. Mertens also made 43 unforced errors in her match, while coming to the net 19 times, winning 13 of the net points.
Both players need to shore up their serving numbers. If Mertens makes as many as 10 double faults against Sabalenka, she will cede the advantage to the Belarusian. Given that she is the title favorite, and has a dominant head-to-head against Mertens, the second seed will be the favorite to win the match.
Pick- Sabalenka to win in straight sets