US Open Tennis 2017: TV Schedule, Picks for Monday Afternoon Draw

The final Grand Slam tournament of the tennis year gets underway Monday in New York, as the U.S. Open begins with a full day of competition.

Tennis fans will be able to indulge on wall-to-wall tennis coverage throughout the run of the tournament, and Monday's schedule includes three hours of preview information on The Tennis Channel from 8 a.m. ET until 11 a.m.

ESPN3 will air two hours of programming starting at 11 a.m., before ESPN takes over from 1 p.m. until 6 p.m.

ESPN2 takes over the broadcast at 6 p.m. and stays on the air until 11 p.m., and The Tennis Channel will present a one-hour wrap-up show at 11 p.m.

Here's a look at the schedule for the first day of the tournament.

While Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal won't see action until Tuesday, several of the top seeds in both the men's and women's draws will open the tournament Monday.

Third-seeded Garbine Muguruza of Spain will kick off the action at Arthur Ashe Stadium at 11 a.m. She will meet unseeded American Varvara Lepchenko.

This has already been a memorable year for Muguruza, as she picked up her second Grand Slam title by winning at Wimbledon earlier this summer. Muguruza fell behind Venus Williams in that championship match, but she did not panic and rebounded to play her best tennis and come away with the 7-5, 6-0 victory.

Muguruza was also victorious at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati earlier this month, beating second-seeded Simona Halep in the final round by an overwhelming 6-1, 6-0 margin.

It would not be a surprise if Muguruza has a long run in New York and makes it to the semifinal or championship round. Muguruza has a 39-15 record this year and has won nearly $4.4 million.

While Serena Williams remains out of action as a result of her pregnancy, older sister Venus Williams returns to New York as the tournament's ninth seed.

Williams is scheduled to meet Slovakia's Viktoria Kuzmova at 3:30 p.m. at Arthur Ashe Stadium. Williams has not won a tournament this year, but she has been competing well and has built a 29-10 record. 

She has earned nearly $3.5 million in prize money, and her Wimbledon showing indicates the 37-year-old can still rise to the occasion of a big tournament.

Daniel Leal-Olivas/Associated Press/Associated Press

On the men's side, fifth-seeded Romanian Marin Cilic is scheduled to play unseeded American Tennys Sandgren at Arthur Ashe Stadium in a 1 p.m. match.

The 28-year-old Cilic has had an up-and-down 2017 season, with a 19-12 record to this point in the year. Cilic was at his best at Wimbledon, as he made it all the way to the championship round before he lost in straight sets to Federer.

Prior to meeting the Swiss maestro, Cilic had beaten four seeded opponents and did a fine job covering the court and returning difficult shots. An adductor injury kept him from playing recent tournaments in Montreal and Cincinnati, and his first-round match should provide a strong indication as to whether he will be in top form for the U.S. Open.

Eighth-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will also open his tournament on Monday, and tennis fans will have to search hard to find him. The 32-year-old will be on Court 17 against Romanian Marius Copil.

Tsonga has put together a respectable season, winning three tournaments and reeling off a 22-6 match record. The Frenchman is capable of playing dominating tennis on any given day, but it's unlikely he will be able to string top performances together over a two-week period.

Notable Predictions for Day 1, Afternoon Schedule (Matches scheduled from 11 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. ET)

Garbine Muguruza (3) over Varvara Lepchenko
Petra Kvitova (13) over Jelena Jankovic
Johanna Konta (7) over Aleksandra Krunic
Venus Williams (9) over Viktoria Kuzmova
Sloane Stephens over Roberta Vinci
Marin Cilic (5) over Tennys Sandgren
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (8) over Marius Copil
John Isner (10) over Pierre-Hugues Herbert
Gilles Muller (19) over Bernard Tomic