US Open Tennis 2016: TV Schedule, Picks for Thursday Afternoon Draw
While the scattered showers and thunderstorms are expected to subside by Thursday afternoon in New York City, one might find dark clouds forming under the roof of Arthur Ashe Stadium when the glowering, brilliant Andy Murray takes to the court to headline the early draw of Day 4 at the 2016 U.S. Open.
Murray made quick-and-easy work of Lukas Rosol in the first round, establishing himself as the man to beat in this tournament with the likes of Novak Djokovic ailing, Roger Federer out with injury and Milos Raonic eliminated (though keep a close eye on a resurgent Rafael Nadal).
The Scot is coming off huge wins at Wimbledon and the 2016 Summer Olympics and is playing some of the best tennis of his career this summer.
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Murray's Thursday opponent, Marcel Granollers, certainly has his work cut out for him if he wants to knock the 29-year-old out of the tournament early.
Simona Halep, Kei Nishikori, Agnieszka Radwanska and Stan Wawrinka are just a few of the other top seeds in play on Thursday afternoon. Play begins at 11 a.m. ET, with live-streaming of multiple courts on WatchESPN.
Television coverage runs from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. ET on ESPN, then 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
Here are the picks for Thursday's afternoon slate.
| Lucie Safarova vs. No. 5 Simona Halep | Arthur Ashe Stadium | Halep in three |
| Marcel Granollers vs. No. 2 Andy Murray | Arthur Ashe Stadium | Murray in three |
| Julia Goerges vs. No. 6 Venus Williams | Arthur Ashe Stadium | Williams in two |
| Karen Khachanov vs. No. 6 Kei Nishikori | Louis Armstrong Stadium | Nishikori in three |
| Naomi Broady vs. No. 4 Agnieszka Radwanska | Louis Armstrong Stadium | Radwanska in two |
| Jelena Jankovic vs. No. 11 Carla Suarez Navarro | Louis Armstrong Stadium | Navarro in three |
| Alessandro Giannessi vs. No. 3 Stan Wawrinka | Louis Armstrong Stadium | Wawrinka in four |
| Montserrat Gonzalez vs. No. 10 Karolina Pliskova | Grandstand | Pliskova in two |
| Ricardas Berankis vs. No. 8 Dominic Thiem | Grandstand | Thiem in four |
| Shuai Zhang vs. No. 16 Samantha Stosur | Grandstand | Zhang in three |
| Kristina Mladenovic vs. No. 17 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova | Court 17 | Pavlyuchenkova in two |
| Varvara Lepchenko vs. No. 15 Timea Bacsinszky | Court 17 | Lepchenko in two |
| Donald Young vs. No. 21 Ivo Karlovic | Court 17 | Karlovic in four |
| Richel Hogenkamp vs. No. 31 Timea Babos | Court 5 | Babos in three |
| Joao Sousa vs. No. 16 Feliciano Lopez | Court 5 | Sousa in five |
| Nicole Gibbs vs. No. 26 Laura Siegemund | Court 5 | Gibbs in three |
| Paul-Henri Mathieu vs. Nicolas Mahut | P6/Old Grandstand | Mathieu in three |
| Katerina Siniakova vs. No. 25 Caroline Garcia | P6/Old Grandstand | Garcia in two |
| Jeremy Chardy vs. No. 22 Grigor Dimitrov | P6/Old Grandstand | Dimitrov in five |
| Johanna Larsson vs. Denisa Allertova | Court 13 | Allertova in three |
| Ana Konjuh vs. Kurumi Nara | Court 13 | Nara in two |
| Viktor Troicki vs. Jared Donaldson | Court 13 | Donaldson in five |
| Pablo Carreno Busta vs. Janko Tipsarevic | Court 4 | Busta in three |
While Murray's excellent run of form is likely to continue unabated on Thursday, some of the other top seeds might not have it quite so easy.
No. 6 Venus Williams needed three sets to defeat her first-round opponent, Kateryna Kozlova, on Tuesday. Though some might expect age is taking a serious toll on the 36-year-old American, her struggles were mostly due to some sloppy, out-of-sorts play, per Tennis.com's Nina Pantic:
"Just like in the first set, Williams raced ahead 3-0 in the second. But she let up just enough to let Kozlova into the match, again committing too many unforced errors. The Ukrainian moves exceptionally well, often sliding like Novak Djokovic, and her attitude throughout the match was exceptionally positive.
Getting more than one ball back each point began working, as Kozlova clawed back to 2-3. Despite dropping the next game, she broke again for 3-4. Even at 4-5, Kozlova simply refused to give up, and instead of playing timid, she began dictating points with greater authority. Her hard work was rewarded with three straight games, and she took the set 7-5. Williams didn’t help matters; she finished the set with 26 unforced errors (up from 17 in the first) to Kozlova’s 13.
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Williams faces a player nine years her junior in Julia Goerges on Thursday. Williams defeated Goerges in straight sets last year in their only meeting to date, but the latter looked strong in her opening-round win over Yanina Wickmayer on Tuesday. Williams still has the strength and stamina to go toe-to-toe with anyone in tennis, but she'll have to clean up the mistakes if she wants to continue playing in New York City.
Jelena Jankovic is 5-3 all-time against No. 11 Carla Suarez Navarro, though the latter has won three of their last four meetings. In a match of two crafty veterans, this one could very well go three sets.
No. 22 Grigor Dimitrov hasn't yet regained the swagger he possessed two years ago, sporting an uneven 23-17 record in singles play in 2016. However, he's done quite well in a couple of recent tournaments, reaching the semifinals of the Western & Southern Open and the quarterfinals of the Rogers Cup.
He has a tough second-round opponent in Jeremy Chardy, who sports a clay-court win against Dimitrov and has forced the 25-year-old Belgian into a couple of grueling matches on hard courts.
As for players likely to avoid much trouble on Thursday, No. 4 Radwanska is a good bet to breeze through her match against 82nd-ranked Naomi Broady.
Radwanska looked excellent on Tuesday, defeating Jessica Pegula 6-1, 6-1. She's also coming off a tournament win at the WTA Connecticut Open on August 27, defeating Elina Svitolina in the final to capture her second singles title of the calendar year and put an end to a small string of disappointing results at recent competitions.
No. 3 Wawrinka and No. 6 Nishikori should both get expected results over Alessandro Giannessi and Karen Khachanov, respectively, on Thursday as well.
In a straight-sets win over Fernando Verdasco on Tuesday, Wawrinka looked like he was gearing up toward confident world-beater level he's capable of reaching at the biggest tournaments.
Check out this pillow-soft drop shot he floated to get a point against Verdasco, via the U.S. Open:
It's quite possible Wawrinka is playing in such a loose, assured manner because he's not worried about fighting his way out of the shadow of his Swiss compatriot Federer. According to ESPN.com's Peter Bodo, Wawrinka misses Federer's presence from the point of someone concerned about the sport, but it doesn't appear to go much deeper than that:
"Counting that straight-sets beat down, in which Wawrinka won just eight games, Federer is 5-1 against Wawrinka in Grand Slam meetings. His absence makes Wawrinka's heart grow fonder. After dispatching Verdasco, Wawrinka spoke glowingly of Federer. But only to a point.
"It's hard for the tournament, for the fans, for the tennis, for everybody," Wawrinka said. "Roger is so important for the tennis. It's unfortunate he's injured for the rest of the year. It's not the best for the tournament."
Yes, but do you miss him in a more personal way?
"No."
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As for Nishikori, there is some added pressure on him to make a big run at this year's U.S. Open. The Japanese star reached the final at the 2014 U.S. Open, losing to Marin Cilic, but he hasn't made it past the quarterfinals in a Grand Slam since.
Some of the top names are shaky, dealing with injuries or out of the tournament entirely, paving the way for him to reach the late stages of the competition.
Nishikori needed four sets to defeat Benjamin Becker in the first round, and though this will be his first meeting with the the 20-year-old Khachanov, he should be able to do what it takes to beat the young upstart.
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