US Open 2026: Women’s Day 4 (Thursday) | Tips & Preview

Iatcenko enters uncharted territory, but I can see her holding her own here. Came through the qualifiers to make her main draw debut at a major and came from a set down to earn a spot in the 2nd round. Sabalenka may have won 6-2 6-4 but it was not as comfortable as the scoreboard suggests. She won only 62% of 1st serve points and barely half behind her 2nd serve. The top seed broke Osorio at will but I can see Iatcenko having greater success on serve which will help her win more games than the market expects.

Tip
Best Bet: Over 17.5 games ($2.02)

A former champion of the US Open, Sloane Stephens turned back the clock in her opening match to score an upset win over Tauson. The 6-4 6-1 score line was the biggest surprise and she will fancy her chances of causing another boil over. Her one and only clash against Kostyuk came less than a fortnight ago in Cincinnati with the Ukrainian prevailing 7-5 7-5 in a very tight contest. Stephens will have gained a substantial amount of confidence from that result and it is necessary to mention that she was able to break the Kostyuk serve on four occasions. Taking Stephens with the +5.5 and can see her taking at least one set.

Tips
Best Bet: Stephens +5.5 ($2.20)
Value: Stephens +1.5 Sets ($3.00)

A 6-3 6-2 win was the perfect start for Pegula. She won 92% of 1st serve points and was never broken in her win over Ruse. The same cannot be said about Kenin who looked nervous on the big stage against Venus Williams and was required to overcome a big deficit in the second set breaker to avoid going the distance. Pegula has won the last two meetings in straight sets and is the superior player in every department at present. Kenin has not won back-to-back matches on tour since October last year and that will not be changing here. She is not playing with the levels of confidence and belief that made her a major champion.

Tip
Best Bet: Pegula -6.5 ($1.87)

Playing and winning the mixed doubles last week with Mensik seems to have worked wonder for Muchova. She needed some time on court having not played since losing the Wimbledon final to Noskova and she wasted no energy in a 6-3 6-0 win. Boulter also produced a bagel in the deciding set of her win but 7 double faults and only 48% of 2nd serve points won against an inferior opponent does not put her in a position to challenge one of the world’s best. Muchova was a straight sets winner in their only prior meeting (Miami earlier this year) in a match where she won at least 70% of points behind both her first and second serve. Boulter will not be winning a set.

Tip
Best Bet: Muchova -1.5 Sets ($1.46)