Gabriela Andrea Knutson vs Varvara Lepchenko Prediction U.S. Open - New York · Aug 24, 2026

Analysis

No recent-form data or head-to-head record was supplied for this fixture, so the read here is stylistic rather than statistical. Knutson is a powerfully built baseliner whose flat, first-strike hitting and heavy serve travel well on the medium-fast hard courts of Flushing Meadows, where the ball sits up and rewards players who take the first swing. Lepchenko is a seasoned left-hander with a compact, tactical game — the lefty serve out wide in the deuce court and the cross-court forehand into the backhand wing are genuine weapons, and long experience of US Open qualifying counts for something in a one-off, no-margin Q1 match. The likely shape is a physical, rhythm-disrupting contest: Knutson trying to end points early, Lepchenko trying to extend them and drag the exchanges into awkward angles. Late-evening New York conditions, with cooler and heavier air, slow the court marginally and tilt a few extra points toward the counter-puncher. On balance the bigger raw ball-striking edges it, but not comfortably, which is why a three-set outcome is close to a coin flip.