US Open Tennis 2020: Schedule, Dates, Times, Live Stream and Predictions

The 2020 U.S. Open, this year's second Grand Slam tournament, gets underway Monday with a total of 256 men's and women's singles players vying for the biggest prize in American tennis. 

Under normal circumstances, the U.S. Open would close the book on tennis' Grand Slam calendar. This year, though, it will serve as the middle event, coming after the Australian Open in January and before the French Open in September. 

Before looking ahead at who has the best chance to leave New York with a victory, here's the schedule for this year's U.S. Open.

2020 U.S. Open Viewing Schedule

Dates: Aug. 31-Sept. 13

Network: ESPN

Live Stream: Watch ESPN

Predictions

Novak Djokovic and Karolína Pliskova are the top seeds in the U.S. Open. Djokovic will be looking for his fourth career win at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Pliskova has yet to win a Grand Slam title in her career. 

Djokovic seems to have a clear path to victory on the men's side. Defending champion Rafael Nadal withdrew from the event because of concerns about the coronavirus pandemic. Roger Federer announced in June he will miss the rest of this season after suffering a setback during his recovery from knee surgery. 

Stan Wawrinka, who defeated Djokovic in the fourth round at last year's U.S. Open, is also not participating because of concerns about the pandemic. 

Djokovic's closest competition will likely be No. 2 seed Dominic Thiem. The Austrian star has yet to win a singles tournament this year, but he did advance to the finals at the Australian Open before losing to Djokovic in five sets. 

Thiem isn't coming into the U.S. Open with a lot of momentum, having lost his first match at the Western & Southern Open in straight sets to Filip Krajinovic. 

Another contender to watch is Daniil Medvedev. The 24-year-old enters this tournament as the No. 3 seed and made his first Grand Slam final at the 2019 U.S. Open, where he took Nadal to five sets. 

Like Thiem, Medvedev has yet to win a tournament in 2020. He hasn't even advanced beyond the quarterfinals in five singles events. 

Djokovic showed no signs of rust or fatigue leading up to the U.S. Open, winning the Western & Southern Open as a final tune-up. Everything is in place for him to leave New York with his 18th career Grand Slam title. 

Things appear to be much more interesting on the women's side. Pliskova's top challengers by ranking include second-seeded Sofia Kenin, who won her first Grand Slam title this year at the Australian Open, and No. 4 seed Naomi Osaka. 

Serena Williams is ranked between Kenin and Osaka. The 23-time Grand Slam champion will always be a threat to win, but there are legitimate questions about where her game is at coming into the U.S. Open. She was defeated by Shelby Rogers in the quarterfinals of the Western & Southern Open by dropping the final two sets after an easy 6-1 in the opening set. 

Per ESPN's Peter Bodo, Williams' serve has seemed to have some of its old bite in practice sessions: "Last year, her vaunted serve often lacked its signature bite as well as speed. There was some concern that she was losing power. That doesn't appear to be the case. Serena blasted a few already at the NTC at around the 120 mph mark."

If Williams' serve is on point and she's getting a lot of aces, her path to success becomes much easier to define. 

Kenin's game is difficult to project because she only played one match at the Western & Southern Open. She looked to be in line for a big year with two victories before the WTA season was suspended because of the pandemic. 

Osaka seemed like the safest bet to win the U.S. Open because of her track record—she won this tournament in 2018—and looked to be on her way to winning the Western & Southern Open. The 22-year-old won her semifinal match over Elise Mertens, but withdrew from the final because of a hamstring injury. 

"I never know with that, but I just hope I'm giving myself the opportunity and the chance to have enough time, because I feel like I would know the answer after I played my U.S. Open match," Osaka told reporters about her hamstring.

One contender outside of the top five to keep an eye on is Petra Kvitova. She has reached the quarterfinals at the U.S. Open twice (2015, 2017) and has Pliskova, Osaka and Petra Martic on her side of the bracket. 

Here's what Courtney Nguyen of WTA.com wrote about Kvitova's game heading into the U.S. Open:

"For a set and a half, Kvitova looked lights out, clearly enjoying the quicker pace of the new Laykold courts. It is rare to hear Kvitova say she played well after a loss, but that's was precisely the Czech's impression. A few more days of acclimating to the courts and the heat and Kvitova could be a big title threat. Keep an eye on the daily forecast when Kvitova is scheduled to play."

The lack of depth in the field at least opens things up for Kvitova to make a deep run over the next two weeks. 

If Osaka comes out of the gate looking healthy and on point, she should be favored to win her third career Grand Slam tournament. 

Until that happens, though, Kvitova is the one to watch on the women's side of the bracket.