US Open Tennis 2016 Draw: Breaking Down TV Schedule and Brackets

The U.S. Open is one of the top transitional events of the sports year. When it starts Monday, the last full blasts of summer are still upon us. By the time the finals roll around in the second week of September, football season is going at a full-speed rate.

The last major tournament of the year comes shortly after the Olympic tennis tournament in Rio de Janeiro. Neither Novak Djokovic nor Serena Williams won a medal, but it would be somewhat of a surprise if neither of the superstars earned a championship in New York.

Djokovic and Williams are both nursing injuries, but it's difficult to see either one of them succumbing to the pain. Djokovic is battling a left wrist injury, while Williams' shoulder difficulties came to the surface shortly after she won Wimbledon in early July.

"I haven't played a lot, I haven't practiced a lot, but I'm just now starting to feel a little better," Williams told David Kane of WTATennis.com. "Hopefully just every day I will keep going higher."

ESPN and ESPN2 will televise the tournament. Here's a look at the draw for the seeded players and the odds for the top-ranked competitors, courtesy of Odds Shark. The full draw is available at USOpen.org.

Date	Time (ET)	Event	TV
Aug. 29	1 p.m.	First Round	ESPN
	6 p.m.	First Round	ESPN
Aug. 30	1 p.m.	First Round	ESPN
Aug. 31	1 p.m.	Second Round	ESPN
	6 p.m.	Second Round	ESPN2
Sept. 1	1 p.m.	Second Round	ESPN
	6 p.m.	Second Round	ESPN2
Sept. 2	1 p.m.	Third Round	ESPN
	6 p.m.	Third Round	ESPN2
Sept. 3	11 a.m., 7 p.m.	Third Round	ESPN2
Sept. 4	11 a.m., 7 p.m.	Round of 16	ESPN2
Sept. 5	11 a.m., 7 p.m.	Round of 16	ESPN2
Sept. 6	Noon, 7 p.m.	Quarterfinals	ESPN
Sept. 7	Noon	Quarterfinals	ESPN
	7 p.m.	Quarterfinals	ESPN2
Sept. 8	7 p.m.	Women's Semifinals	ESPN
Sept. 9	Noon	Mixed Doubles Finals	ESPN2
	3 p.m.	Men's Semifinals	ESPN
Sept. 10	4 p.m.	Women's Final	ESPN
Sept. 11	4 p.m.	Men's Final	ESPN

Men's Singles		Women's Singles
Men's Singles		Women's Singles
No. 1 Novak Djokovic vs. Jerzy Janowicz		No. 1 Serena Williams vs. Ekaterina Makarova
No. 28 Martin Klizan vs. Mikhail Youzny		No. 29 Ana Ivanovic vs. Denisa Allertova
No. 20 John Isner vs. Frances Tiafoe		No. 23 Daria Kasatkina vs. Qiang Wang
No. 13 Richard Gasquet vs. Kyle Edmund		No. 16 Samantha Stosur vs. Camila Giorgi
No. 9 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs. Guido Andreozzi		No. 11 Carla Suarez Navarro vs. Teliana Pereira
No. 23 Kevin Anderson vs. Yoshihito Nishioka		No. 19 Elena Vesnina vs. Anett Kontaveit
No. 26 Jack Sock vs. Taylor Fritz		No. 31 Timea Babos vs. Barbara Haas
No. 7 Marin Cilic vs. Rogerio Dutra Silva		No. 5 Simona Halep vs. Kirsten Flipkens
No. 4 Rafael Nadal vs. Denis Istomin		No. 4 Agnieszka Radwanska vs. Jessica Pegula
No. 31 Albert Ramos-Vinolas vs. Julien Benneteau		No. 25 Caroline Garcia vs. Pauline Parmentier
No. 24 Lucas Pouille vs. Mikhail Kukushkin		No. 20 Kiki Bertens vs. Ana Konjuh
No. 15 Roberto Batista Agut vs. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez		No. 15 Timea Bacsinzsky vs. Vitalia Diatchenko
No. 10 Gael Monfils vs. Gilles Muller		No. 10 Karolina Pliskova vs. Sofia Kenin
No. 18 Pablo Cuevas vs. Dudi Sela		No. 17 Anastasia Pavlyuchenko vs. Louisa Chirico
No. 32 Benoit Paire vs. Dusan Lajovic		No. 27 Laura Siegemund vs. Patricia Tig
No. 5 Milos Raonic vs. Dustin Brown		No. 6 Venus Williams vs. Kateryna Kozlova
No. 1 Novak Djokovic vs. Jerzy Janowicz		No. 1 Serena Williams vs. Ekaterina Makarova
No. 28 Martin Klizan vs. Mikhail Youzny		No. 29 Ana Ivanovic vs. Denisa Allertova
Men's Singles		Women's Singles
No. 1 Novak Djokovic vs. Jerzy Janowicz		No. 1 Serena Williams vs. Ekaterina Makarova
No. 28 Martin Klizan vs. Mikhail Youzny		No. 29 Ana Ivanovic vs. Denisa Allertova
No. 20 John Isner vs. Frances Tiafoe		No. 23 Daria Kasatkina vs. Qiang Wang
No. 13 Richard Gasquet vs. Kyle Edmund		No. 16 Samantha Stosur vs. Camila Giorgi
No. 9 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs. Guido Andreozzi		No. 11 Carla Suarez Navarro vs. Teliana Pereira
No. 23 Kevin Anderson vs. Yoshihito Nishioka		No. 19 Elena Vesnina vs. Anett Kontaveit
No. 26 Jack Sock vs. Taylor Fritz		No. 31 Timea Babos vs. Barbara Haas
No. 7 Marin Cilic vs. Rogerio Dutra Silva		No. 5 Simona Halep vs. Kirsten Flipkens
No. 4 Rafael Nadal vs. Denis Istomin		No. 4 Agnieszka Radwanska vs. Jessica Pegula
No. 31 Albert Ramos-Vinolas vs. Julien Benneteau		No. 25 Caroline Garcia vs. Pauline Parmentier
No. 24 Lucas Pouille vs. Mikhail Kukushkin		No. 20 Kiki Bertens vs. Ana Konjuh
No. 15 Roberto Batista Agut vs. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez		No. 15 Timea Bacsinzsky vs. Vitalia Diatchenko
No. 10 Gael Monfils vs. Gilles Muller		No. 10 Karolina Pliskova vs. Sofia Kenin
No. 18 Pablo Cuevas vs. Dudi Sela		No. 17 Anastasia Pavlyuchenko vs. Louisa Chirico
No. 2 Andy Murray vs. Lukas Rosol		No. 24 Sloane Stephens (Withdrew)

Women's Draw
Men's Draw	Odds
Player	Odds
Serena Williams	+120
Angelique Kerber	+800
Garbine Muguruza	+800
Simona Halep	+800
Madison Keys	+1400
Petra Kvitova	+2000
Belinda Bencic	+2500
Men's Draw
Player	Odds
Novak Djokovic	Even
Andy Murray	+180
Milos Raonic	+1200
Juan Martin Del Potro	+1600
Stan Wawrinka	+1600
Marin Cilic	+2000
Rafael Nadal	+2000

Williams is going for her seventh U.S. Open title. She was attempting to win the calendar-year Grand Slam in last year's event but fell short in the semifinal round. Roberta Vinci of Italy beat her in three sets in a match that shocked the tennis world.

Vinci was tough and competitive throughout, but Williams did not play her usual game and appeared to make too many unforced errors.

John Minchillo/Associated Press

Angelique Kerber is likely to be Williams' toughest opponent this time around. She is the No. 2 player in the world and will have a chance to bypass Williams in the world rankings if she can win the U.S. Open.

Djokovic was an upset victim at Wimbledon, losing to Sam Querrey in the third round. It didn't go any better for him in Rio, as Juan Martin del Potro beat him early on in the Olympics.

Del Potro made it all the way to the final and pushed Andy Murray hard once he got there. Del Potro, who just recently came back from a long battle with injuries, is not seeded at the U.S Open. However, he is a dangerous player who has a chance to survive and advance through several rounds of the tournament.

Murray has to be considered Djokovic's primary challenger. He picked up the second Wimbledon title of his career and also won the gold medal in Rio.

Roger Federer, who will not play as he recovers from knee surgery, believes that Djokovic is the best player in the tournament.

"Yes, there were surprise losses, at Wimbledon and the Olympics, but I still say that Novak is the favorite," Federer told Reuters (h/t Eurosport). "He has a great record against Andy, has been unbelievable at the U.S. Open as well, and when it comes to the hard court, he is usually very tough to beat."

A healthy Murray is a formidable opponent for Djokovic. The defending champion will need to display pinpoint accuracy if he is going to keep Murray and the rest of the field from taking his crown.