U.S. Open Day Four Preview: Federer, Nadal Lead Thursday’s Action

August 31, 2017 | By New York Tennis Magazine Staff
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After a wild Wednesday on the third day of the 2017 U.S. Open, Day Four will bring a close to the second round in singles while ushering in the start of the doubles draw at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows.

The day’s lineup revolves around the presence of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal inside Arthur Ashe Stadium. The top-seed Nadal is coming off of a straight-sets win over Dusan Lajovic in his first round match in one of the few contests to get completed on Tuesday, and will meet Japan’s Taro Daniel in the night’s final match on Thursday.

Besides the experience and pedigree, Nadal will be at an advantage in this one as Daniel’s first round match on Wednesday went the full five sets: a 6-1, 4-6, 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 win over Tommy Paul of the United States.

Nadal’s match will be the second of the two night matches inside Ashe, and will follow American Coco Vandeweghe and Ons Jabeur of Tunisia. The 20th seed Vandeweghe had to come back from a set down to win her opening round match against her good friend Alison Riske on Wednesday, and will meet an unfamiliar opponent in Jabeur. It will be the first meeting between the two players, and Vandeweghe is looking to reach the third round at the U.S. Open for the first time in her career.

Federer wraps up the day session inside Ashe when he squares off with Russia’s Mikhail Youzhny. The Swiss Maestro was pushed to the brink by American Frances Tiafoe in the first round on Tuesday night, a thrilling five-set match that saw a lot of rust from Federer. With one match under his belt and playing an opponent whom he is 16-0 against, the five-time U.S. Open champion Federer hopes his match on Thursday is a lot more routine than his opener.

Prior to Federer’s match, fourth-seed Elina Svitolina will meet Evgeniya Rodina of Russia in the day’s first match on Ashe, and afterwards, world number one and 2016 finalist Karolina Pliskova will meet American qualifier Nicole Gibbs in a matchup riddled with contrasting styles of play.

French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko opens up play on Louis Armstrong Stadium against Romania’s Sorana Cirstea in a first-time meeting. The highlight of the day on Armstrong is 15th seeded American Madison Keys plays Germany’s Tatjana Maria. Keys has reached the fourth round in Flushing Meadows each of the last two seasons and is a strong contender at this event this year. The only previous matchup between the two did come at a Grand Slam, a straight-sets victory for the American at Wimbledon two years ago.

Sixth-seed Dominic Thiem of Austria will meet American Taylor Fritz in a first-time matchup between the two. Fritz won his first match at a Grand Slam on Wednesday and will try to upset a potential contender in Thiem.

A number of other Americans will be in singles action on Thursday including Shelby Rogers, Donald Young, Christina McHale and Jennifer Brady.

Doubles play gets underway on Thursday. The top-seeded pair on the men’s side, John Peers and Henri Kontinen, begin their campaign in Queens against a pair of Americans in William Blumberg and Spencer Papa, while Bob and Mike Bryan start their quest for a 17th Grand Slam title as the fifth-seeds play the Czech duo of Roman Jebavy and Jiri Vesely on Court 11.

Click Here to see the full schedule for Day Four at the U.S. Open. 


New York Tennis Magazine Staff
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