RICKY’S ATP PREVIEW & PICKS FOR DAY 7 • 2017 U.S. OPEN TENNIS • CARRENO BUSTA VS. SHAPOVALOV AND QUERREY VS. ZVEREV

Written by: Staff on 2nd September 2017

RICKY'S ATP PREVIEW & PICKS FOR DAY 7 • 2017 U.S. OPEN TENNIS • CARRENO BUSTA VS. SHAPOVALOV AND QUERREY VS. ZVEREV |

Ricky’s preview and picks for Day 7 at the U.S. Open: Carreno Busta vs. Shapovalov and Querrey vs. Zverev

By Ricky Dimon

There will be a first-time Grand Slam finalist in the bottom half of the U.S. Open draw. And in one quarter there is even guaranteed to be a first-time slam semifinalist. Among the latter contenders are Denis Shapovalov and Pablo Carreno Busta, who will face each other during fourth-round action on Sunday. Another showdown pits Sam Querrey against Mischa Zverev.

Ricky previews two of the Day 7 matchups and makes his predictions.

(Q) Denis Shapovalov vs. (12) Pablo Carreno Busta

Shapovalov is the one making headlines at this U.S. Open, but it is Carreno Busta who will set a record on Sunday afternoon. The world No. 19 will become the first player ever to face four qualifiers in a single major–and he is doing so in his first four matches. Nobody since 2007 at Wimbledon had even run into three at the the same major until Carreno Busta stormed through Evan King, Cameron Norrie, and Nicolas Mahut this week. The No. 12 seed did not drop a set on the way to the last 16 and only King pushed him to one tiebreaker.

In Shapovalov, however, Carreno Busta appears to be going up against a different beast. The 18-year-old is enjoying the best stretch of tennis in his young career, highlighted by a semifinal run at the Rogers Cup in Montreal. He successfully qualified for the U.S. Open main draw and has since taken out Daniil Medvedev, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and Kyle Edmund (via fourth-set retirement). The Canadian is more talented than Carreno Busta and may end up having a more noteworthy career, but the Spaniard is a veteran by comparison and one who just reached a Grand Slam quarterfinal at Roland Garros. Carreno Busta’s experience should be enough to end Shapovalov’s sensational summer, but not before what is sure to be an entertaining affair ensues.

Pick: Carreno Busta in 4

10sBalls LJ chooses Denis in four sets.

(17) Sam Querrey vs. (23) Mischa Zverev

On Friday afternoon, Querrey and John Isner were staring at the best opportunity for an American man to reach a Grand Slam final for the first time since Andy Roddick at Wimbledon in 2009. Querrey took another step toward capitalizing on the golden chance, as he defeated of Radu Albot in four sets. Isner, however, saw the wide-open bottom half of the draw close on him in the form of a straight-set setback against Zverev. Now Zverev will try to squash the hopes of the host nation yet again when he goes up against Querrey for the first time on Sunday night.

The 30-year-old’s matchup with Isner almost never happened, because he needed a total of 10 sets to survive rounds one and two. Zverev recovered from two sets to one down and a break down in the fourth against Thai-Son Kwaitkowski before holding off Benoit Paire 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-7(3), 7-5. Thus the 27th-ranked German is one win away from the second major quarterfinal of his career and second of the season (previously at the Australian Open). Querrey is two wins shy of a second consecutive slam semifinal, having made a run to the last four at Wimbledon before succumbing to Marin Cilic in four tight sets. The 17th seed has maintained his strong form with victories this week over Albot, Gilles Simon, and Dudi Sela, surrendering just one set to Albot in the process. Although Querrey is by no means the same play as Isner in terms of style, Zverev should be able to execute similar tricks: a steady diet of backhand slices that stay low to the ground and countless net attacks. The fact that Querrey has never faced Zverev before will not help.

Pick: Zverev in 4

ok we all agree on This one. Sorry Craig (CB)