US Open Tennis 2020: TV Schedule, Start Times for Friday Night Draw

Day 4 at the U.S. Open saw most of the tournament favorites on both the men's and women's sides advance to the third round.

Serena Williams and fellow Americans Sofia Kenin, Sloane Stephens and Madison Keys breezed through their Thursday matches in straight sets. On the men's side, Dominic Thiem and last year's finalist, Daniil Medvedev, both won in straights, while Canadian youngster Felix Auger-Aliassime put a halt to Andy Murray's tournament run.

However, some of the top names were sent packing.

Milos Raonic, after making it to the finals of the Western & Southern Open last week, was defeated by his fellow Canadian, Vasek Pospisil. Grigor Dimitrov was downed by Marton Fucsovics in a five-set contest that lasted nearly five hours.

The women's field saw more top names fall.

Two-time U.S. Open champion Victoria Azarenka maintained her momentum from the Western & Southern, needing just over an hour to dispatch of fellow Belarussian Aryna Sabalenka, the fifth seed. Spanish-Venezuelan player Gabine Muguruza was also defeated in straight sets, and No. 9 seed Johanna Konta fell in three sets. 

Most of the marquee names set to play on Day 5 took the court in the morning or early afternoon, including former U.S. Open champion Naomi Osaka as well as men's favorites Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alexander Zverev.

The night matches will feature the No. 1 player in the world on the men's side, Novak Djokovic, as well as two-time Grand Slam champion Petra Kvitova.

Here is a rundown of the schedule for Friday night's matches.

Schedule for Friday Night   

TV: ESPN2, 7-11 p.m. ET

Stream: ESPN+

Men's Singles: No. 1 Novak Djokovic vs. No. 28 Jan-Lennard Struff, 7 p.m. EST

Women's Singles: No. 6 Petra Kvitova vs. Jessica Pegula, immediately following Djokovic-Struff

Friday Night Preview   

Seth Wenig/Associated Press

Djokovic is looking to remain undefeated in 2020 while also advancing to the round of 16.

The Serb had his hands full with Kyle Edmund on Wednesday after losing the first set. However, Djokovic had 51 winners en route to winning the next three sets. In fact, Djokovic has trailed by a set in three of his last four matches, though the adversity is seemingly making him stronger.

Struff won each of his first two matches with relative ease, and he had 14 aces against Michael Mmoh on Wednesday. The German won over 90 percent of the points on his first serve, and Djokovic—who defeated Struff in the quarterfinal of the Western & Southern Open—said he will be wary of the atmosphere playing in Arthur Ashe Stadium.

"[Struff] is another big server," he said, per ATPTour.com. "I obviously played a great match against him in the Western & Southern Open. There are different conditions here, if we play on [Arthur Ashe Stadium]. He is a big server and there is not much breeze in here, so that probably helps the server. Let's see. I like my chances in best-of-five."

On the women's side, Kvitova is hoping to reach her first round of 16 at the U.S. Open since 2017.

The two-time Wimbledon champ reached the quarterfinals at the Australian Open and defeated each of her first two opponents in straight sets. She commented on the absence of fans after defeating Kateryna Kozlova on Wednesday, saying "the noise of the crowd" is something players will no longer take for granted after this season. 

Meanwhile, this is the first time that Pegula, a 26-year-old American, has won consecutive matches at a Grand Slam in her entire career, and she will hope to make it three in a row against Kvitova. Pegula, whose parents own the NFL's Buffalo Bills, has played a lot of tennis already, needing all three sets in each of her first two matches. Can she stay fresh and pull off yet another upset in the women's field?

The stage is set for some top-flight players to take the court on Friday night in Flushing.

All stats obtained via ATP Tour or WTA Tour, unless otherwise noted.