US Open Tennis 2015: TV Schedule, Picks for Saturday Afternoon Draw
Swiss stars Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka will both be in action during Saturday's afternoon session, as Day 6 of the 2015 US Open will serve up a number of tantalising clashes.
The Tennis Channel and ESPN will provide full coverage of the event across their networks for American viewers, while Eurosport and Sky Sports will do the same for UK viewers.
Federer will go up against the dangerous German Philipp Kohlschreiber at the Arthur Ashe Stadium, while Wawrinka faces little-known Belgian Ruben Bemelmans. Meanwhile, Angelique Kerber and Victoria Azarenka headline Saturday's action in the women's event.
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Here's the TV schedule for Saturday's afternoon action:
| 8 a.m. | / | Breakfast at the Open | Tennis Channel | |
| 11 a.m. | 4 p.m. | Third Round | ESPN 2, ESPN 3 | Eurosport, Sky Sports |
The full schedule for the afternoon matches, complete with picks:
| Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) [29] | v | Roger Federer (SUI) [2] | Federer |
| John Isner (USA) [13] | v | Jiri Vesely (CZE) | Isner |
| Stan Wawrinka (SUI) [5] | v | Ruben Bemelmans (BEL) | Wawrinka |
| Bernard Tomic (AUS) [24] | v | Richard Gasquet (FRA) [12] | Gasquet |
| Viktor Troicki (SRB) [22] | v | Donald Young (USA) | Troicki |
| Tomas Berdych (CZE) [6] | v | Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP) [31] | Berdych |
| Kevin Anderson (RSA) [15] | v | Dominic Thiem (AUT) [20] | Anderson |
| Petra Kvitova (CZE) [5] | v | Anna Karolina Schmiedlova (SVK) [32] | Kvitova |
| Victoria Azarenka (BLR) [20] | v | Angelique Kerber (GER) [11] | Azarenka |
| Andrea Petkovic (GER) [18] | v | Johanna Konta (GBR) | Petkovic |
| Varvara Lepchenko (USA) | v | Mona Barthel (GER) | Barthel |
| Sara Errani (ITA) [16] | v | Samantha Stosur (AUS) [22] | Stosur |
| Barbora Strycova (CZE) | v | Sabine Lisicki (GER) [24] | Lisicki |
| Flavia Pennetta (ITA) [26] | v | Petra Cetkovska (CZE) | Pennetta |
Federer has been in sensational form early in the US Open and continued dominating the opposition in the second round, giving Steve Darcis just four games on his way to a straight-set win.
Fans must be thrilled Federer is in top form, as he chases his first Grand Slam title since 2012, but they can't be happy he'll be facing Kohlschreiber next. Back in June, the German nearly eliminated the Swiss star during the first round of the Gerry Weber Open, pushing him to a tie-break in the deciding set, and he's played some excellent tennis ever since.
The 31-year-old struggled with the heat against Alexander Zverev but bounced back with an excellent showing against Lukas Rosol, winning in straight sets, and with the two frequently practising together, per the Associated Press (for the Daily Mail), he will like his chances.
Speaking of the heat, Federer had some choice words for some of his colleagues, as reported by ESPN:
"I'm surprised to hear that players are retiring because of heat. I mean, if you're injured, it's different and all that. What I don't understand, if that's the case, we've been here in North America for some time. It's not like, all of a sudden, hot. I mean, it was more on the warmer side, but it's not like impossible, to be quite honest. Really no excuse for that.
"
Kohlschreiber should be Federer's first real test at the US Open, but the five-time US Open winner doesn't seem too bothered about his upcoming opponent. During a recent press conference, he even took the time to convince reporters to go see the new Finding Neverland musical, which he took in with his kids, via the Washington Post's Kelyn Soong:
Wawrinka has looked less impressive during his first two matches of the US Open, having played in four tie-breaks already, including three in his Round 2 match against teen sensation Hyeon Chung.
The Korean youngster gave the 30-year-old everything he could handle and played with a maturity beyond his years, but in the tie-breaks, experience proved the difference. Live Tennis noticed Wawrinka knew all too well what a tough match he had just survived after the final set:
"Chung's volley on MP just wide and Wawrinka wins 7-6(2), 7-6(4), 7-6(6), but boy does he know he's been in a fight. pic.twitter.com/zRhnvt51cy
— Live Tennis (@livetennis) September 3, 2015"
Fortunately for Wawrinka, he should be in for a relatively easy match on Saturday. Bemelmans lost the first two sets of his Round 2 match against Jack Sock before his opponent started to struggle, and the American ended up abandoning the match in the fourth.
USA Today's Nick McCarvel shared this image, showing Sock right after he collapsed on court:
The 27-year-old Bemelmans is a bit of a late bloomer and is playing some of the best tennis of his career, but this is just the first time he's ever advanced past the second round at a Grand Slam. Barring a major upset, Wawrinka should cruise to a win.
Following a number of withdrawals and a favourable draw, the bottom half of the woman's draw looked like it would provide the handful of favourites with an easy run to the later rounds of the tournament, but one potential match stood out, per the New York Times' David Rothenberg:
Both have yet to drop a set after two rounds, with Azarenka looking dominant against Belgium's Yanina Wickmayer and Kerber taking care of Karin Knapp.
While everyone expected this match to be scheduled during the night draw, the two favourites from the bottom half will instead go head-to-head during the afternoon, meaning the heat will come into play.
It's a shame this match had to come so soon, as these two could have just as easily met in the quarter-finals or even later. Instead, the fans at the Arthur Ashe Stadium will get to enjoy two potential champions battle it out in Round 3.
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