Alexander Zverev vs. Frances Tiafoe
Frances Tiafoe is the higher seed here at No. 12 against Alexander Zverev at No. 22, but Zverev has the better current UTR at 15.81 against 15.76 for Tiafoe. Zverev is certainly the better clay court player with the better clay court resume and getting back into form after his devastating injury in the semifinals of Roland Garros last year. We give the edge to Zverev here to get through.
Zie Zhang vs. Casper Ruud
Zie Zhang has received a lot of buzz of late and making history for Chinese men’s tennis. Ruud, by contrast, has struggled of late after his stellar 2022 season where he was runner-up at the French and U.S. Opens and was on the cusp of world No. 1. There’s an astonishing gap in the UTRs of these two players with Zie Zhang at a 14.69 and Casper Ruud is a 15.95. That’s over one point, which is huge at this level. With that, we are going with Ruud to be the easy winner here.
Lesia Tsurenko vs. Bianca Andreescu
Sticking with our UTR picking style, Tsurenko has a UTR of 12.64 and the much more accomplished and recognizable Bianca Andreescu, the former U.S. Open champion, has a slightly lower UTR of 12.61. Clay is not the best surface for Andreescu, who is just getting into match shape again after her ankle injury at the Miami Open. Tsurenko is not just playing for herself, but her country Ukraine, so we will go with Tsurenko to win here.
