US Open Tennis 2015 Schedule: TV, Live Stream Info for Friday's Draw
It's Friday, and what better way to end the workweek than with a little U.S. Open action headlined by Serena Williams and Rafael Nadal in the prime-time evening draw?
The third round is underway after the first two rounds saw multiple top players bounced from the tournament in Flushing Meadows, New York, including last year's men's runner-up, Kei Nishikori, Gilles Simon and a whole host of top-10 players in the women's bracket.
Only two top-10 women's players remain besides Williams: No. 2 Simona Halep and No. 4 Petra Kvitova. It's a quickly depleted draw, one that looks increasingly favorable to Williams and the other top remaining players in the field. Of those three, only Williams is in action on Friday.
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Here's the TV schedule for Friday. Multiple live streaming options begin at 11 a.m. ET on WatchESPN.
| Time (ET) | Program | TV |
| 8 a.m. - 11 a.m. | Breakfast at the Open | Tennis Channel |
| 1 p.m. - 6 p.m. | Third Round | ESPN |
| 6 p.m. - 11 p.m. | Primetime at the US Open: Third Round | ESPN2 |
| 11 p.m. - 8 a.m. | US Open Tonight | Tennis Channel |
Prime-time Match Previews
No. 8 Rafael Nadal (ESP) vs. Fabio Fognini (ITA)
This year has been a particularly trying campaign for Nadal. He's 29-10 in singles matches overall, but he has captured just one title and couldn't make it past Novak Djokovic at the quarterfinal of his favorite tournament, the French Open.
If there was any elite men's tennis player likely to topple early at the U.S. Open, it was Nadal. So far, that has clearly not been the case, but the draw has sent a notable tormentor his way in the form of Fabio Fognini. The 28-year-old Italian is 2-1 against Nadal this year, and every match has been a grind.
| February | Rio Open | Semifinals | Fognini | 1-6, 6-2, 7-5 |
| April | Barcelona Open | Third | Fognini | 6-4, 7-6 (8) |
| August | Bet-at-home Open German Championships | Final | Nadal | 7-5, 7-5 |
Fognini's wins are made all the more impressive in that they came on Nadal's favored clay surfaces. Nadal's win in Hamburg was also on clay, so it will be interesting to see if the hard courts hinder or help either player.
This match will be a big test mentally for Nadal. His uncle and coach, Toni Nadal, admits the struggles might be a result of his nephew's shaken psyche.
"When you play good, all the things go easy,” he said, per the Wall Street Journal's Tom Perrotta. “You lose a little here, a little here—you lose a little confidence, a little coordination. When you’re nervous and you’re like this, you cannot hit the ball.”
Nadal has seemed fairly in control so far at the U.S. Open. He avenged a shocking 2014 loss to then 17-year-old Borna Coric, dropping the Croatian starlet in four sets to open the tournament. He then dispatched a game Diego Schwartzman in straight sets in the second round.
Nadal will likely need at least a semifinal run to quiet the doubters who say he's lost his edge. The 29-year-old often plays like he's trying to grind bone to dust and may not have much longer to seriously compete for titles as he ages. Especially if his body continues to betray him.
Fognini's entertaining, athletic style has frustrated many an opponent. A banged-up Nadal might be in serious trouble here, but with a clean bill of health, the Spaniard should be able to even the score with Fognini at 2-2 this year.
No. 1 Serena Williams (USA) vs. Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA)
This All-American prime-time battle will be a nice way for stateside fans to close out a day of tennis. Williams is on a collision course with history at the U.S. Open, and the unranked Sands isn't really equipped to stop her.
Mattek-Sands, 30, earned the right to play Williams after defeating another American, Coco Vandeweghe, 6-2, 6-1 in the second round Wednesday. The oft-injured Mattek-Sands has no illusions about whom she's up against on Friday, per Tennis.com's Matt Cronin:
"She’s playing great. Right now she's on a mission to get a record, and I’m here playing my game. I think it’s going to be a battle out there. I'm going to do my best. Obviously Serena's pretty aggressive. She’s going to rip some balls, hit some big serves. I think it’s going to be a good match. That’s obviously going to be the clash there. I’m excited for it.
"
Williams has indeed ripped through her first two opponents in New York. In the first round, she made it to 6-2, 2-0 over Vitalia Diatchenko before the Russian retired. Williams had a tougher go of it against 23-year-old Kiki Bertens in the second round but still won it in straight sets, 7-6 (5), 6-3.
If there's anything going for Mattek-Sands in this one, it could be the lack of familiarity between the two, at least on the court. Williams is 2-0 against Mattek-Sands, but the last time they stared across the net at each other was in the round of 16 at Wimbledon 2008. Williams cruised to a straight-sets win in that match, 6-3, 6-3.
The reason this might actually be a point in Mattek-Sands' favor is that when Williams stumbles at Grand Slams, she tends to do so against lesser competition, not the tennis elite. For The Win's Chris Chase explains:
"So, good news for Serena’s Grand Slam, right? Not exactly. As we’ve discussed in this space over the past two months, Serena has dominated the top 10 in Slams — she’s dominated them so much it’s hard to believe. She has an amazing 12-0 record in majors against top-10 players over the last three years. When she loses, however, it’s to lesser opponents. Over the same period when she’s been undefeated against the top 10, her losses have come to players ranked Nos. 14, 24, 24, 25, 35, 56 and 111.
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Mattek-Sands is mired down at No. 101 in the WTA rankings. The 30-year-old with the bright orange hair might be just the kind of player that lulls Williams into a false sense of security, but even that will probably just be delaying the inevitable.
She's the longest of long shots; expect even a shaky Williams to put her away quickly.
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