US Open Tennis 2018: TV Schedule and Tuesday's Afternoon Draw Predictions

The 2018 U.S. Open continues Tuesday, when defending champion Rafael Nadal is scheduled to face Dominic Thiem in the last eight at Flushing Meadows in New York.

Nadal beat Nikoloz Basilashvili on Sunday to continue his title defence at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, and Thiem will likely give the champion another stiff contest under the New York lights.

No. 3 seed Juan Martin del Potro will open the men's quarter-final schedule against John Isner in Arthur Ashe Stadium earlier on Tuesday.

Serena Williams is also back in action and is set to face her second seeded opponent of the competition in Karolina Pliskova, who has yet to drop a set in four matches at Flushing Meadows.

First, we'll see No. 3 women's seed Sloane Stephens go up against Latvian Anastasija Sevastova for the right to take their spot opposite either Williams or Pliskova in the last four.

Tuesday Singles Schedule

Arthur Ashe Stadium

(3) Sloane Stephens* vs. (19) Anastasija Sevastova

(3) Juan Martin Del Potro* vs. (11) John Isner

(17) Serena Williams* vs. (8) Karolina Pliskova

(1) Rafael Nadal* vs. (8) Dominic Thiem

*Picks to win    

For the schedule in full visit the U.S. Open website.

TV Info: In the United States, ESPN and the Tennis Channel will provide coverage. Viewers in the UK can tune in via Amazon Prime.

Tuesday Preview

Nadal and Thiem will collide for a fourth time in 2018, with the pair having already met in Monte Carlo, Madrid and at the French Open earlier this year.

After suffering a straight-set defeat to Nadal in Monaco in April, Thiem returned the favour in his opponent's backyard a month later. The Spaniard rallied to clinch a critical victory in the Roland-Garros final in June:

In 10 meetings between the players, nine have been settled by straight-set scorelines—including the last eight—suggesting another one-sided fixture could be on the cards.

Thiem has won three of their 10 meetings, and while that may not sound like a great ratio, few can boast so many wins against one of the all-time greats, who isn't taking the Austrian's challenge lightly, per journalist Jose Morgado:

The victor of that clash will face either Del Potro or Isner, who are also familiar opponents after already clashing twice in 2018.

Tennis Channel team Charles Conoly and Nina Pantic previewed the matchup:

Williams is hoping to keep alive an impressive streak of semi-final appearances at the U.S. Open after featuring in the final four of the past six tournaments she's participated in.

Standing in her way is eighth seed Pliskova, who made it to the 2016 final and will be hoping to avoid a second successive quarter-final departure in this competition.

It bodes well for the Czech underdog that her most recent meeting with Williams happened to be in 2016, when she beat the American en route to finishing runner-up to Angelique Kerber. She's learned a lot since then, however, per sports writer Ben Rothenberg:

An all-American women's final is again on the cards this year, and we could even see a repeat of last year's decider as Stephens prepares to take on No. 19 seed Sevastova while 2017 runner-up Madison Keys gets set to face Carla Suarez Navarro on Friday.

Stephens, 25, beat Elise Mertens 6-3, 6-3 in her most recent outing to advance to the quarter-finals and showed an impressive catalogue of shots. The tournament's official Twitter account highlight one such effort:

Her opponent has form of her own, however, and defeated seventh seed Elina Svitolina 6-3, 1-6, 6-0 on Sunday to make this stage of the competition for the third year running.

The U.S. Open is the the only major at which Sevastova has managed to advance past the fourth round, but the question is whether the 28-year-old has learned enough to improve her fortunes this time around.