US Open Best Bet: Marie Bouzkova vs. Ons Jabeur

On Saturday, Ons Jabeur will face Marie Bouzkova in the third round of the US Open. One of the stories of the tournament has been Jabeur’s battle with an illness, but the Tunisian still found a way to earn wins over Camila Osorio and Linda Noskova. Now, it seems like the illness is really impacting the way she’s being priced in the betting market, and I’m not sure it should be this much.

Jabeur was visibly sick in her first-round match, but that was on Tuesday. After four days of trying to get everything out of her system, I’d imagine that she’ll be feeling a heck of a lot better when she faces Bouzkova. And considering she’s the much better player in this matchup, I think you need to jump on these odds while you can.

Jabeur will likely be a bigger favorite against her fourth-round opponent than she is here, almost exclusively because she’ll be further removed from whatever has been ailing her.

Jabeur was the winner in the only previous meeting between these two, 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 at Wimbledon in 2022. It’s also hard to ignore Jabeur’s big-match experience. She's a three-time Grand Slam runner-up, with one of those finishes coming at last year’s US Open. She knows what it takes to win at this level, and she also knows what it takes to win in New York. Bouzkova’s best result at a Slam was in her Wimbledon loss to Jabeur, and this is the furthest the Czech has ever been at the US Open, putting her in uncharted territory.

It goes without saying that anything can happen. But I think the oddsmakers are getting a little too cute with Jabeur’s pricing. So, I’m happily backing one of the top-five players in the world.

Bet: Jabeur ML (-140)