US Open Men’s Singles Day 6 Odds & Picks – Third Round September 4

• Wild-card Americans Jenson Brooksby and Jack Sock look to make the US Open second week
• Novak Djokovic needs five more wins to make history – and he’s 17-2 vs Kei Nishikori
• We look at these final third-round matches and pick some winners

Novak Djokovic has 23 singles victories in Grand Slam tournaments in 2021.

He needs five more to make history, as the first male player to win the calendar Grand Slam since 1969.

And the 34-year-old Serb has won his last 17 matches against Kei Nishikori, his next opponent, after going 2-2 against him early in their one-sided rivalry.

US Open Men’s Singles Day 6 Odds – Sept 4

Odds as of Sept 3 at DraftKings

Alexander Zverev vs Jack Sock Prediction

The top two seeds in this half of the draw, Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev, continue to be overwhelming favorites to win their matches.

While -3500 is a long way from the -20000s from earlier in the week, it’s still a strong endorsement even if Sock, a former top-10 player, has some big-league skills.

Between a hand injury and the pandemic, the 28-year-old American had fallen off the map and needed a wild card to get into the draw.

But when he was playing his best a few years ago, Sock actually defeated Zverev twice.

The first came in the semifinals of an indoor hard-court tournament in Stockholm late in 2016. The second came at the end of Sock’s best season in 2017, when he defeated Zverev in three sets in the round-robin portion of the ATP Tour Finals.

So he knows what to do  – even if Zverev’s game seems to have taken a step up since winning gold at the Olympics.

Sock has beaten the consistent Yoshihito Nishioka, and then the mercurial but talented No. 31 seed Alexander Bublik in five sets.

Even if he has little chance of beating Zverev, you like his chances to get a set if he can keep the serving up.

Best Bet: Over 3.5 sets (+195)

Gaël Monfils vs Jannik Sinner Prediction

Jannik Sinner is a player that everyone is expecting to be one of the next great ones, because of the way he can hit the ball and his even-keeled demeanor.

But his efforts so far during the North American summer – during which he has entered nearly every tournament he could – have not been overly impressive. Other than in Washington, DC where he defeated Americans in the last four rounds to take the title.

Other than that, he won one match in three other tournaments.

Sinner, the No. 13 seed, had a great draw in the first two rounds. He defeated Max Purcell, the Tennis Australia reciprocal wild card, And then he beat Zachary Svajda, a young American who earned his wild card by winning the US under-18 championships.

Still, Sinner lost a set in both.

As for Gaël Monfils, marriage to Elina Svitolina appears to agree with him. The down-in-the-mouth, unmotivated Monfils from early in the year has come back to life just as the crowds have returned to the stadiums.

He lost a set to Steve Johnson in his second-round win. But beyond that, he has been smiling his way through the first 10 days with a joke and a laugh for everyone.

The two have played twice, both on quick indoor hard courts. And Monfils won the most recent one two years ago.

Best Bet: Monfils wins the first set – and the match (+255)

Lloyd Harris vs Denis Shapovalov Prediction

Denis Shapovalov is the favorite in this one. But Lloyd Harris has a 1-0 edge in their head-to-head.

Then ranked No. 81 (he’s at a career high No. 46 now), Harris shocked Shapovalov in the semifinals of Dubai in March, winning in a third-set tiebreak in his seventh match of the week after coming out of qualifying.

Shapovalov hasn’t lost a set – first beating Federico Delbonis, then beating Roberto Carballes Baena.

Harris earned this spot by upsetting No. 25 seed Karen Khachanov in five sets in the first round.

Best Bet: Shapovalov in five sets (+390)