Not many tennis players put together career years after they turn 30, but Jordan Thompson is doing just that.

The 30-year-old Australian has been a mainstay on the ATP Tour for years, but he has spent most of that time bouncing between 50th and 100th in the world rankings.

Known as a tough competitor, Thompson just didn’t seem to have the level needed to get beyond that. Thompson had his moments, but he never was able to put things together on a big stage.

That is until now.

Thompson is an underdog against fellow Australian Alex de Minaur in Monday’s Round of 16 match at the US Open, but given the former’s current form and the latter’s recent injury, this projects to be a much closer match than the -380/+280 odds suggest.

Thompson is 22-10 on hard courts in 2024, recently made it to the finals in Atlanta and has wins over Jack Draper, Hubert Hurkacz and Taylor Fritz since June.

All of this adds up to a career-high ranking (currently 29) for the Sydney native.

De Minaur, meanwhile, is much more of an unknown in this match, which isn’t great when you’re the favorite.

Although the better player, de Minaur missed most of the summer after injuring his hip at Wimbledon.

He’s answered the questions put his way at the U.S. Open so far, but those questions have not been all that difficult.

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Given Thompson’s form, de Minaur’s fitness and the fact that this should be a grueling contest, it’s hard to argue against a play on the underdog in this tilt.

THE PLAY: Jordan Thompson +280 (DraftKings)