US Open Tennis 2018: Replay TV Schedule, Live Stream for Friday's Draw
Top men's seed Rafael Nadal is back in action at the U.S. Open on Friday, but the headline clash on Day 5 at Flushing Meadows is the third-round meeting between Serena and Venus Williams at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The Williams sisters have eight U.S. Open titles between them, and they will be facing off for the 30th time as professionals—Serena leads the head-to-head 17-12.
Defending champion Nadal will be looking to book a spot in the fourth round when he faces No. 27 seed Karen Khachanov, while world No. 3 Juan Martin del Potro meets Fernando Verdasco, who downed Andy Murray in the second round.
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Friday's action kicks off at Arthur Ashe with a fascinating clash between women's champion Sloane Stephens and two-time runner-up Victoria Azarenka.
Arthur Ashe Stadium
(3) Sloane Stephens vs. Victoria Azarenka
(1) Rafael Nadal vs. (27) Karen Khachanov
(17) Serena Williams vs. (16) Venus Williams
(3) Juan Martin del Potro vs. (31) Fernando Verdasco
Louis Armstrong Stadium
(23) Barbora Strycova vs. (15) Elise Mertens
Qiang Wang vs. (7) Elina Svitolina
(28) Denis Shapovalov vs. (5) Kevin Anderson
(25) Milos Raonic vs. Stan Wawrinka
Sofia Kenin vs. (8) Karolina Pliskova
For the schedule in full visit the competition website.
Replay Info: Tennis Channel and Tennis Channel Everywhere will broadcast a replay of the day's action on Saturday, starting at 4 a.m. ET. ESPN will live-stream the tournament.
Williams Sisters Top Friday Bill
A cursory glance at the history of matches between the Williams sisters shows that they invariably meet in the latter stages of tournaments.
Remarkably, they have clashed 24 times at the quarter-finals or later and played 12 finals against each other.
It is something of a rarity, then, to see them come together in the first week of a Grand Slam. And for some, it is a disappointment given it means only one of Venus or Serena will be in the U.S. Open into the second week.
Although there is not necessarily a guarantee of fireworks, it is sure to be an intriguing contest between the Nos. 16 and 17 seeds.
Serena has looked impressive in the tournament, easing past Magda Linette and Carina Witthoeft in straight sets.
Venus, meanwhile, had to battle through almost three hours to get past Svetlana Kuznetsova in the opening round before beating Camila Giorgi 6-4, 7-5.
Serena will be widely backed to prevail, but Venus did down her younger sister in straight sets when they last met at Indian Wells earlier this year.
If Nadal does not make at least the semi-finals at this year's U.S. Open, it would be a huge shock.
Since crashing out of the Australian Open at the last-eight stage back in January, he has lost just two matches—one to Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon semis, and one to Dominic Thiem at the Madrid Open.
Meanwhile, he has won five titles, including an 11th French Open and one at his most recent outing in the Rogers Cup.
The prospect of a Khachanov win on Friday is minimal. He has met Nadal on four occasions, including twice in 2018, and never won a set.
It looks like there are only a handful of players in this year's U.S. Open draw with any chance of troubling Nadal, and Khachanov is not one of them.
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