US Open Tennis 2019: TV Schedule and Monday's Afternoon Draw Predictions

Defending champion Naomi Osaka will headline the early action at the 2019 U.S. Open on Monday when she faces off against Belinda Bencic in the round of 16.

Men's No. 6 seed Alexander Zverev will also be on court to take on Diego Schwartzman, while Gael Monfils is set to play Pablo Andujar

In the United States, TV coverage at Flushing Meadows runs from 11 a.m. ET to 11 p.m. on ESPN2, ESPN3 and ESPN+, while viewers in the UK can stream the action on Amazon Prime.

Monday's Afternoon Predictions

Men's Singles

(20) Diego Schwartzman to beat (6) Alexander Zverev

Andrey Rublev to beat (24) Matteo Berrettini

(13) Gael Monfils to beat Pablo Andujar

Women's Singles

(1) Naomi Osaka to beat (13) Belinda Bencic

(26) Julia Goerges to beat (23) Donna Vekic

(25) Elise Mertens to beat Kristie Ahn

Visit the U.S. Open website to see the draw in full

Preview

Osaka comes into Monday's match aiming for her 11th consecutive win at the U.S. Open, stretching back to her victory in the competition last year.

The world No. 1 overcame local favourite Coco Gauff in the last round, 6-3, 6-0.

Christopher Clarey of the New York Times was impressed with Osaka's play in an entertaining first set:

She was broken twice by the 15-year-old sensation, though, and she produced more unforced errors than Gauff in the opening set, per sports journalist Reem Abulleil:

The 21-year-old will need to tighten up her game against Bencic, who enjoyed a walkover in the last round after Anett Kontaveit withdrew with a viral illness.

Having beaten Osaka twice this year, Bencic has a 2-1 lead in their career head-to-head. Osaka's solitary win against the Swiss player came in 2013 when the pair were teenagers.

The Japanese is aware she's in for a tough time on Monday, per Marc Berman of the New York Post: "I just expect a fight. She doesn't really ever give up. She kind of fights for every point. I know that's going to be a really difficult match for me."

Osaka is right to be wary. Including her victories against Osaka, no other player has more wins against top-10 and top-five players than Bencic in the WTA this season, per Abulleil.

However, Bencic hasn't gone further than the fourth round at a Grand Slam since she reached the U.S. Open quarter-finals in 2014 in her first appearance at Flushing Meadows.

By contrast, Osaka has two Grand Slam titles to her name and has only lost once at a major upon reaching the last 16, at the Australian Open last year.

Avenging her defeats to Bencic this season will be difficult, but her prior Slam experience should give her the edge.

As for Zverev, he and Schwartzman have been evenly matched at one win apiece in their two meetings.

The German is in the fourth round of the U.S. Open for the first time, but he has made life hard for himself in his first three matches. 

He was taken to five sets by Radu Albot and Frances Tiafoe in the first two rounds, while he played four sets against Aljaz Bedene in Round 3, with all four going to a tiebreaker.

Tennis writer Carole Bouchard set the scene of his first set against Bedene:

Schwartzman, on the other hand, is yet to drop a set, having eased past Robin Haase, Egor Gerasimov and Tennys Sandgren. In that time, he has recorded two bagels and given up just 23 games.

Unless the No. 6 seed is much improved, the Argentinian has an excellent chance of taking this.