Botic van de Zandschulp

Van de Zandschulp is a flat, low-margin hitter who takes time away from opponents rather than out-running them. He stands close to the baseline, drives through the ball off both wings and is unusually willing to go after a second serve, which is why his best wins come against players who want a predictable rhythm. On a quick outdoor hard court that approach has beaten top-ten opposition more than once. Over a full season the same low margins explain why his ranking has swung a long way either side of the top 50.

This is a player to bet in single matches, not in tournaments. Van de Zandschulp is repeatedly a big price against seeded opponents in New York and has cashed at those prices three times in five years, which is a pattern rather than an accident. The flip side is that he is equally capable of losing to players ranked far below him the following week, so backing him to go deep is a different and much worse bet than backing him in a matchup that suits him. Odds are approximate at time of writing.