Tennis
2026-09-01 - Alexander Zverev vs Lorenzo Sonego
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
United States : US Open Tennis First Round
Tuesday 1st September 2026 - Scheduled 9pm EST
2am (British Time)
Preview
The big news in the Men's draw is the early elimination of Novak Djokovic and that has only opened the draw up even further after Jannik Sinner withdraw before the tournament began. There are still lingering doubts about the overall fitness of Carlos Alcaraz and that will mean French Open Champion, Alexander Zverev, is going to be considered a big threat having been a Runner Up in New York City before.
His performances this summer will have lessened some of the enthusiasm around Alexander Zverev's prospects, but he is a very solid Grand Slam competitor and the experience cannot be underestimated the longer he remains in the tournament.
The First Round match against Lorenzo Sonego is going to be a test, but the match up is one that Alexander Zverev will be comfortable dealing with.
A couple of matches were won at Winston Salem, but Lorenzo Sonego has not enjoyed much success in the lead up to the the US Open and is playing as the World Number 89.
At 31 years old, Lorenzo Sonego will know that his best years may be behind him, but his serve can be very dangerous on the faster surfaces. However, that also means there is pressure to serve well at all times and especially in any match where he is bidding for an upset, and that has perhaps held the Italian back.
Lorenzo Sonego has held 80% of his service games in the three hard court matches against Alexander Zverev, but the latter has held 97% and that is a massive difference.
There has been a huge difference in the percentage of service points won to create that gap in the games held and the performances in the build up to the US Open suggests there will be no change to Alexander Zverev being the dominant player in this First Round contest.
Prediction
Lay the games with the top Seed in the Men's draw as Alexander Zverev looks to get his tournament off to a strong start.
The Pick :
Alexander Zverev 3-0 Lorenzo Sonego
