Friday's main tennis slate on DraftKings runs eight matches, with a $50,000 salary cap and six player slots. Lock comes at 5:30 a.m. ET (2:30 a.m. PT), so this is an early-morning build.
Carlos Alcaraz tops our model's board at $9,600, with a projection of 79.4 and a ceiling of 109.8. His DraftKings average is 67.4, well below that projection, which tells you how much the model likes his draw against Fritz. Alexandra Eala is next at $9,900, projected for 75.3 with a ceiling of 108.2. Casper Ruud ($8,900, 74.7) and Magda Linette ($9,300, 70.8, ceiling 93.7) round out the top end. Ben Shelton at $7,400 projects for 78.7, one of the strongest numbers on the slate for the price.
The value comes from the bottom of the salary scale. Taylor Fritz at $6,300 projects for 75.1, which works out to 11.9 points per $1,000. Antonia Ruzic is $6,000 for a projection of 71.0 (11.8 per $1,000), and Mai Hontama is $6,500 for 70.8 (10.9). Their ceilings are modest, 52.3, 44.8 and 51.6, so these are plays for floor and salary relief rather than tournament upside.
The crowd should gather around Casper Ruud, Luca Van Assche and Maria Sakkari, each at 25% projected ownership. Alcaraz and Eala sit at 22%. Fritz, Ruzic and Hontama are all at 6%, and Shelton is at 13%, so the cheaper side of the board is where lineups can separate.
Our model's top lineup uses the full $50,000: Alcaraz at $9,600, Linette at $9,300, Van Assche at $8,600, Tommy Paul at $8,100, Anastasia Zakharova at $7,600 and Nuno Borges at $6,800. It pairs the highest-ceiling star with several mid-priced plays and skips the biggest salary on the slate.
Lock is Friday at 5:30 a.m. ET.
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