2026 U.S. Open Round of 16 Betting Odds, Picks: Osaka opens as underdog against Rybakina

The Canadian contingent is now gone from the U.S. Open – which is not entirely surprising when only three players across both the men’s and women’s singles fields were in the tournament when the festivities began on August 30.

Felix Auger-Aliassime, Denis Shapovalov and Leylah Fernandez reached the third round, but all three crashed out at that stage.

We are now approaching the quarterfinals of the fourth and final Grand Slam, with the remaining spots in the last eight to be handed out on Monday.

Among those taking the court on Labour Day are Elena Rybakina, Naomi Osaka, Iga Swiatek, Alexander Zverev and Learner Tien.

Let’s have a look at some of the best bets to make. 

Make sure to check out Sports Interaction’s complete list of U.S. Open match odds and U.S. Open futures.

Elena Rybakina vs. Naomi Osaka best bet: Osaka ML (+112)

This is a rematch of a thriller that these two Grand Slam champions played against each other last month in Toronto, where Elena Rybakina prevailed 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 against Naomi Osaka, who led by a set and was twice up a break in the second set.

The Japanese 28-year-old gets a shot at redemption, and she may be well positioned to do it. After finishing runner-up in Toronto, Rybakina suffered an ankle injury in the Cincinnati quarterfinals. The Kazakh has appeared to recover from it quite well, but is she completely 100 per cent? That is a valid question – and you probably have to be in order to beat Osaka.

It is worth noting that Osaka has lost in the fourth round of a Grand Slam only three times in her entire career.

The bottom line is that she generally either loses early or goes a long way (the current world No. 13 has won four major titles and has reached at least the quarterfinals in two of the last four slams). 

Learner Tien vs. Karen Khachanov best bet: Tien -2.5 games (-118)

Learner Tien is a mere 20-years-old, but he has already reached at least the fourth round of the Australian Open twice — including the quarterfinals earlier in the 2026 campaign.

The left-hander is making noise at the other hard-court Grand Slam, the U.S. Open, making mincemeat of Nuno Borges and Gael Monfils before defeating Jakub Mensik in five sets on Saturday night.

His next opponent, Karen Khachanov, is into round four of this tournament for only the second time in his career.

The 30-year-old had been a poor 16-18 this season prior to arriving at Flushing Meadows. He has done well to win three matches, but he also benefited from Felix Auger-Aliassime dealing with illness in round two.

Francisco Cerundolo vs. Alexander Blockx best bet: Blockx -2.5 games (-135)

This is a pretty much ideal situational spot for Alexander Blockx, and that is mainly because Francisco Cerundolo just played consecutive five-setters against Jan-Lennard Struff and Taylor Fritz.

You might think that the Argentine must have played great tennis to take down an opponent of Fritz’s calibre, but that really was not the case on Saturday. He simply benefited from an uncharacteristically poor performance by the American.

Cerundolo had been 1-4 in his last five matches heading into New York, with his only victory during that stretch coming via a retirement by his opponent. 

Blockx has mostly coasted through three rounds of the U.S. Open and he lost just six games in his final three sets against Flavio Cobolli on Saturday afternoon.

Blockx won his only previous encounter with Cerundolo 7-6(8), 6-2 this spring on the red clay of Madrid, and he looks a good bet to pick up another win.