US Open Tennis 2015: TV Schedule, Picks for Thursday Afternoon Draw

Simona Halep, Victoria Azarenka, Stan Wawrinka and Andy Murray headline the afternoon on Day 4 of the 2015 U.S. Open, providing tennis fans with plenty of star power to wrap up the second round of the men's and women's singles draws.

Halep is the No. 2 seed on the women's side, one of the few in that bracket with the skill and guile to potentially upset Serena Williams' historic quest for a fifth straight Grand Slam title. 

It's anyone's tournament on the men's side. Defending champion Marin Cilic is still in it after a straight-sets victory over Evgeny Donskoy on Wednesday, but last year's runner-up, Kei Nishikori, crashed out in the first round. The Big Three of Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer are all still in contention, the latter playing on Thursday night at Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing Meadows, New York.

Here's the TV schedule and picks for Thursday afternoon's matches.

2015 U.S. Open Day 4 Viewing Info

Time (ET)	Event	Channel
8 a.m. - 11 a.m.	Breakfast at the U.S. Open	Tennis Channel
1 p.m. - 5 p.m.	Second Round	ESPN
5 p.m. - 11 p.m.	Primetime at the U.S. Open: Second Round	ESPN2
11 p.m. - 8 a.m.	U.S. Open Tonight	Tennis Channel

Note: Tournament play scheduled to begin at 11 a.m ET. Live streaming begins on WatchESPN at that time and runs all day.

Matchups, Picks

Arthur Ashe Stadium			Pick
Louis Armstrong Stadium			Pick
Grandstand			Pick
Court 17			Pick
Court 13			Pick
Court 11
Court 5
Court 6
Court 7
No. 20 Victoria Azarenka	vs.	Yanina Wickmayer	Azarenka
Kateryna Bondarenko	vs.	No. 2 Simona Halep	Halep
Adrian Mannarino	vs.	No. 3 Andy Murray	Murray
Evgeniya Rodina	vs.	No. 22 Samantha Stosur	Stosur
No. 5 Stan Wawrinka	vs.	Hyeon Chung	Wawrinka
No. 13 John Isner	vs.	Mikhail Youzhny	Isner
No. 5 Petra Kvitova	vs.	Nicole Gibbs	Kvitova
No. 16 Sara Errani	vs.	Jelena Ostapenko	Errani
Ruben Bemelmans	vs.	No. 28 Jack Sock	Sock
Camila Giorgi	vs.	No. 24 Sabine Lisicki	Giorgi
No. 24 Bernard Tomic	vs.	Lleyton Hewitt	Tomic
Johanna Konta	vs.	No. 9 Garbine Muguruza	Muguruza
Aljaz Bedene	vs.	Donald Young	Young
No. 6 Tomas Berdych	vs.	Jurgen Melzer	Berdych
No. 26 Flavia Pennetta	vs.	Monica Niculescu	Pennetta
No. 30 Thomaz Bellucci	vs.	Yoshihito Nishioka	Bellucci
Mona Barthel	vs.	Olga Govortsova	Barthel
Kurumi Nara	vs.	Shelby Rogers	Nara
No. 29 Philipp Kohlschreiber	vs.	Lukas Rosol	Kohlschreiber
Lesia Tsurenko	vs.	Varvara Lepchenko	Lepchenko
No. 22 Viktor Troicki	vs.	Rajeev Ram	Ram
No. 15 Kevin Anderson	vs.	Austin Krajicek	Anderson
Danka Kovinic	vs.	No. 32 Anna Karolina Schmiedlova	Schmiedlova
No. 18 Andrea Petkovic	vs.	Elena Vesnina	Petkovic
Karin Knapp	vs.	No. 11 Angelique Kerber	Kerber
Nicolas Mahut	vs.	No. 31 Guillermo Garcia-Lopez	Garcia-Lopez
Robin Haase	vs.	No. 12 Richard Gasquet	Gasquet
Jiri Vesely	vs.	No. 21 Ivo Karlovic	Vesely
Barbora Strycova	vs.	Qiang Wang	Wang
Denis Istomin	vs.	No. 20 Dominic Thiem	Thiem

Afternoon Matches to Watch

No. 20 Victoria Azarenka vs. Yanina Wickmayer

TIMOTHY A. CLARY/Getty Images

If you're looking for a player with the strength and grit to take on Serena Williams at this year's U.S. Open, then you should be rooting for Azarenka.

Azarenka is fighting her way back to the top of women's tennis after an injury-ravaged 2014 season. She's shown fight and tenacity in the process, perhaps letting emotions get the best of her during a testy exchange with the umpire in her first-round demolition of Lucie Hradecka. ESPN provided footage of the moment: 

With many projecting Williams and her scorched-earth tennis to trounce the competition at the U.S. Open, it's up to the players to put the pundits in place. Williams is the greatest female tennis player of her generation and probably of all time, but Azarenka has no interest in letting the U.S. Open serve as a coronation ceremony of sorts.

"I'm not here to help make history," Azarenka said, relayed by ESPNW.com's Johnette Howard. 

It's a sign of Williams' dominance that Azarenka has won only three times in 20 matches against her and is still considered a viable threat. Azarenka is at least 1-0 against Yanina Wickmayer, her Thursday opponent. Wickmayer lit up Francesca Schiavone 6-3, 6-1 in the first round.

She'll be a fine test for Azarenka, but look for the latter to continue her warpath at the U.S. Open and eventually challenge some of the top players in the draw.

Donald Young vs. Aljaz Bedene

JEWEL SAMAD/Getty Images

Former tennis prodigy Donald Young proved on Tuesday that life has taught him to overcome adversity. The Chicago native came from two sets down to upset No. 11 Gilles Simon 2-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 in the U.S. Open first round. Tennis Magazine's Steve Tignor noted it was a milestone win for Young:

Once one of the most promising young American players around, Young has mostly flopped and floundered in his professional career.

The 26-year-old has yet to win a singles title and is just 14-12 in singles play in 2015. Even a modest tournament run from the lefty would go a long way toward exciting American tennis fans hoping from some glimmer of hope from the men's side—the U.S. women, led by Serena, are an excellent group of talent young and old.

Al Bello/Getty Images

Age and experience helped Young make his big comeback against Simon. He was sure a younger version of himself would've failed mentally in the situation in which he found himself.

“One hundred percent I would have beat myself up,” he said, via the New York Times' Scott Cacciola.

Ben Rothenberg of the New York Times noted he had already procured a win against big-time opposition earlier this year: 

Young's next test is unheralded Aljaz Bedene, another 26-year-old who escaped from the first round after Ernest Gulbis retired through injury. Bedene is 27-37 in his singles career, but 6-4 in 2015. He appeared to be on his way to beating Gulbis, up 3-6, 6-4, 3-0, when the Latvian retired. 

Young has a chance to make Thursday a big day for the United States. Ranked players John Isner and Jack Sock both have favorable draws, while Rajeev Ram has to take on No. 22 Viktor Troicki and Austin Krajicek looks to make his home country proud against No. 15 Kevin Anderson. On the women's side, Shelby Rogers and Varvara Lepchenko represent the U.S.

It's highly doubtful all will move on beyond Thursday, but expect Young to be one of those who does.

No. 3 Andy Murray vs. Adrian Mannarino

DON EMMERT/Getty Images

Murray is the top-ranked men's player in the afternoon draw—No. 2 Federer is in the prime-time slot—so tennis fans looking for the sublime will want to catch his match against Adrian Mannarino.

Murray had one of the toughest first-round draws in the tournament in the form of inscrutable wunderkind Nick Kyrgios. The young Aussie managed to win his first set against Murray on Tuesday, but the Glaswegian held onto his racket and prevailed 7-5, 6-3, 4-6, 6-1.

Kyrgios was his usual bizarre self, but those looking to pin the outcome of the match on his antics would do well to remember Murray is the superior player, per Grantland's Brian Phillips:

"

I mean, fair enough, but all the "Kyrgios came unglued!" stuff is ignoring the fact that Murray is currently better than he is at tennis.

— Brian Phillips (@runofplay) September 2, 2015"

Murray has played well in big tournaments as of late, reaching the semifinals of Wimbledon and the Western & Southern Open, as well as the final of the Rogers Cup. He's still finding it difficult to navigate his way past the likes of Federer and Djokovic, but he's added power to his game this year and shown little signs of faltering in the early round against inferior opposition.

Mannarino defeated Konstantin Kravchuk in straight sets to book a date with Murray. The 27-year-old Frenchman is 14-13 on the year, with his best run coming at the Claro Open Colombia in July. He lost to Bernard Tomic in the final of that tournament in three sets. Since then, Mannarino hasn't made it past the second round in tournament singles play.

Murray beat Mannarino 6-3, 6-3 in the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open in March. Expect a similar clinical drubbing on Thursday as Murray proves he's in the right form and frame of mind to make a big run in Flushing Meadows.