tennis | Tuesday, August 30, 2022 8:00 AM

Tuesday Tennis Best Bet: US Open Men, Chun-Hsin Tseng vs Alexei Popyrin

Jon Reid

Chun-Hsin Tseng vs Alexei Popyrin Best Bet: Tuesday, August 30th

The first round is in full swing, and the second day of the tournament will see another flurry of matches take place.

For our men’s selection on Tuesday, let’s break down the match between Chun-Hsin Tseng and Alexei Popyrin.

In this article:

Chun-Hsin Tseng vs Alexei Popyrin Preview
Chun-Hsin Tseng vs Alexei Popyrin Best Bet

Chun-Hsin Tseng vs Alexei Popyrin Preview

August 30th, Time TBD

What a chance for the 21-year-old Tseng to win his first ever main draw match at the grand slam level. While Popyrin would have been a tough draw in a different circumstance, he’s getting the Australian at the right time in this one.

The Taiwanese native – one of the most dominant juniors of the last few decades – hadn’t really progressed much in the years leading into this season. Yet in 2022, we’ve seen a once defensive-minded player that could be overwhelmed adopt a more balanced mindset, and it has paid off.

With more aggression in his game (though the power is still lacking a bit) and willingness to take the ball earlier and attack any balls his opponents leave short, Tseng has become a more viable threat at the Challenger level.

His form on hard courts hasn’t been great the past few weeks, but he does have some wins against Marton Fucsovics (albeit a stumbling Fucsovics) and Pedro Martinez. A three-set loss where he ran out of gas against David Goffin and a straight sets loss to Cameron Norrie are nothing to hang one’s head over either.

Popyrin, on the other hand, has been absolutely dreadful since reaching the semifinals of the Ilkley Challenger (and even that was as a lucky loser). He’s won just two matches in six events and has struggled to keep the ball in the court. Even the wins – against the clay-court centric Steven Diez and by retirement against Tung-Lin Wu after just six games – were nothing to write home about.

Finally, matchup wise, when you’re hitting unforced errors left, right and centre, playing against someone like Tseng – who can extend rallies and coax those errors out of you – is a nightmare. Tseng can also effectively counter-punch against players with power like Popyrin, giving him a few avenues to exploit in his attempt to reach the final 64.