Amanda Anisimova vs Qinwen Zheng - US Open Tennis Prediction and Pick 8/26/24

Amanda Anisimova started the 2024 season ranked outside the top 400. She had spent a huge chunk of the 2023 season on an indefinite break from the sport, citing burnout and mental health struggles.

It's fair to say that the decision was calculated because Anisimova has put together a decent 2024 campaign, which is highlighted by her return into the world's Top 50 coming to the US Open. She reached her maiden WTA 1000 final in Toronto during one of the big warm-up events on hard courts and took a well-deserved rest in Cincinnati. Anisimova is one of the dark horses to do well at this tournament but has a tough opening match.

Qinwen Zheng will be her opponent. The Chinese woman has been flying high this season, reaching her first Grand Slam final at the Australian Open under the Grand Slam-winning coach Pere Riba. Zheng broke the world's Top 10 after that breakthrough run in Melbourne and has been a mainstay in that elite band.

She is the seventh seed at the 2024 US Open and arrives here on the back of a shock second-round exit in Cincinnati. Although that defeat can only be termed "acceptable" considering she has spent the first part of the month playing on clay at Roland Garros, where she won a gold medal at the Olympics and made even more Chinese tennis history.

Amanda Anisimova vs Qinwen Zheng Head-To-Head

• There is no previous history between Anisimova and Zheng.

Amanda Anisimova vs Qinwen Zheng Prediction

Ansimova is the most dangerous unseeded player at the 2024 US Open, and Zheng can count herself unfortunate to have such a massive test in the first round. The American is playing some superb tennis and my only worry is how she will cope with the heat since this will be a day match, because the last time she played in Washington, she didn't do too well there in stifling conditions. Still, I think Zheng could be there for the taking and I'm happy to back the World No. 49 to pinch at least a set.