US Open Tennis 2020: TV Schedule, Picks for Wednesday Afternoon Draw

Fifteen of the 16 seeded players in the top half of the US Open women's singles draw have progressed to the second round. 

However, a few of the top players could go down Wednesday afternoon as their matchups become tougher against players closer to them in the world rankings. 

No. 1 seed Karolina Pliskova headlines the afternoon slate when she faces Carolina Garcia, with whom she shares a 3-3 record in previous head-to-head contests. 

The seeded player at most risk of leaving the tournament early may be No. 11 Elena Rybakina, who faces a tough challenge against Shelby Rogers, who is one of the 14 Americans left in the women's singles event. 

US Open Wednesday Afternoon Schedule

TV: ESPN (Noon ET)

Live Stream: Watch ESPN and ESPN app (11 a.m. ET)

Full schedule of play can be found on USOpen.org. 

Picks

No. 1 Karolina Pliskova over Caroline Garcia

Frank Franklin/Associated Press

Pliskova enjoyed a comfortable 6-4, 6-0 win over Anhelina Kalinina in the first round, but things are likely to be trickier against Garcia, who was barely stretched in her 6-3, 6-2 win over Jasmine Paolini. 

The French player has downed the No. 1 seed in three different environments over the last few years. She won in 2018 in Tianjin, China, the 2016 Fed Cup final and a round-of-32 match in Madrid in 2015.

However, Pliskova owns a victory in the only showdown the two players have had in a Grand Slam, after winning the 2017 French Open quarterfinal in straight sets. 

The difference-maker in Wednesday's match could be first-serve percentage. Pliskova won all but five of the 30 points on her first serve in the opening round. 

Conversely, Garcia won 58 percent of the points on her first serve and only 36 percent on her second serve. The only leveler the 26-year-old could have in her bag of tricks is net play. She won nine of 10 net points against Paolini.

Even if Garcia is strong at the net, she may have a tough time keeping up with Pliskova's serve throughout the contest. 

Shelby Rogers over No. 11 Elena Rybakina

James Crisp/Associated Press

At some juncture of the tournament, upsets will occur. In 2019, 10 of the 32 women's seeds did not make it beyond the second round, including three of the top 10. 

Rogers is one of the top candidates to send a seeded player home Wednesday, when she battles with Rybakina. 

Both players had dominant first-round performances, but there was one key difference between the two: Rybakina committed 21 unforced errors over 15 games, which is a less-than-ideal total moving forward. 

In 16 games, Rogers committed 12 unforced errors while hitting 28 winners against Irina Khromacheva. 

If the American puts her Kazakh opponent under pressure on her serve and forces some unforced errors on break points, she could find an early advantage.

Rogers may not be broken much on her serve after turning in a near-perfect showing Monday. The 27-year-old had a win percentage of 86 on her first serve and won 77 percent of her 13 second-serve points. 

Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90

Statistics obtained from USOpen.org and WTATennis.com