Ricky’s picks for Day 6 of the U.S. Open, including Medvedev vs. Cobolli

Botic van de Zandschulp stunned four-time Grand Slam champion Carlos Alcaraz on Thursday and he will be back in action at the U.S. Open for Friday’s third-round schedule, facing Jack Draper. Meanwhile, Daniil Medvedev will battle Flavio Cobolli for a place in the second week.

Here are picks for two of Friday’s best matchups.

Botic van de Zandschulp vs. (25) Jack Draper

Draper was surely counting on facing Alcaraz in the third round. Instead, it will be a player with four fewer Grand Slam titles and a ranking 71 spots lower. Van de Zandschulp is struggling down at No. 74 in the world and was so bad this spring that he briefly considered retiring from tennis. The 28-year-old dropped out of the top 100 in late May, but a couple of recent Challenger runner-up performances may have restored some confidence. Suddenly, Van de Zandschulp is playing like his former self — the one who reached the quarterfinals at Flishing Meadows in 2021. In fact, the Dutchman may be playing even better now. In addition to wiping Alcaraz off the court in straight sets, he did the same to Denis Shapovalov in round one.

Of course, it’s never easy to follow up such a huge result with more success Van de Zandschulp has to go up against a tough opponent on Saturday. When healthy, Draper is a top-10 talent on tour — and right now he is healthy and playing like it. The world No. 25 captured the Stuttgart title earlier this summer, upset Alcaraz at Queen’s Club, made a run to the Cincinnati Masters quarterfinals, and so far in NYC has defeated both Zhizhen Zhang and Facundo Diaz Acosta in easy straight sets. Look for Draper to end Van de Zandschulp’s run.

Pick: Draper in 4

(31) Flavio Cobolli vs. (5) Daniil Medvedev

While the current “Big 3” are dominating headlines, Medvedev is flying under the radar in New York — just as he has been basically all year long. Although the 2024 campaign has not been a great one for Medvedev, he still comes in at No. 5 in the world and now finds himself at perhaps his favorite tournament. The 28-year-old, who made quick enough work of Dusan Lajovic and Fabian Marozsan earlier in the week week, was the champion in 2021 and was runner-up in both 2019 (l. to Rafael Nadal) and 2023 (l. to Novak Djokovic).

Up next for the Russian is a first-ever encounter with Cobolli, who has been one of the game’s breakout starts this season. The 22-year-old is up to a career-high ranking of 31st and has picked up 30 of 36 ATP-level match victories in 2024. Recent results for the Italian include a final in Washington, D.C., a third round in Cincinnati, and U.S. Open wins at the expense of James Duckworth and Zizou Bergs. From a quality standpoint, this could be one of the best matches of the entire event. But the edge naturally goes to Medvedev, especially in a best-of-five situation and at a tournament that he loves.

Pick: Medvedev in 4

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on Twitter at @Dimonator.