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

One of the two Grand Slam champions left in the U.S. Open men's singles draw will attempt to upset one of the tournament favorites Saturday night inside Arthur Ashe Stadium. 

Marin Cilic, who won the 2014 U.S. Open, faces No. 2 seed Dominic Thiem in what has the potential to be a thrilling affair in New York.

Thiem cruised through a pair of unseeded players to reach the third round, but starting Saturday, his quest for a first Grand Slam title goes through a slew of seeded men. 

Saturday night's schedule at the USTA National Tennis Center begins with Madison Keys taking on Alize Cornet in the women's singles third round. 

The seventh-seeded American is aiming to advance to the U.S. Open fourth round for the sixth year in a row. 

U.S. Open Saturday Night Schedule

Start Time: 7 p.m. ET

TV: ESPN2

Live Stream: ESPN.com or ESPN app

Picks

No. 2 Dominic Thiem over No. 31 Marin Cilic

Thiem has been the sharper of the two players through two rounds.

After struggling in his opening set of the competition, the second-seeded Austrian lost 11 games in four sets. His first-round opponent retired before the third set. 

His current path is cleaner than the one he carved to the Australian Open final. In Melbourne, he needed five sets to get out of the second round. 

Cilic has not advanced past the fourth round in his last five Grand Slam appearances, but he has achieved the most success in New York. 

The No. 31 seed owns three quarterfinal berths, a semifinal spot and a championship in New York. 

With the exception of a poor second set Thursday, Cilic has performed well in his last seven sets. The knock on his play so far is the inability to break and close out sets before needing seven games to do so.

Cilic has three set victories of 7-5 and was pushed to a third-set tiebreak by Norbert Gombos in the round of 64. 

Thiem has not been perfect on his serve. He only put 64 percent of his first serves in play Thursday, but he has been tough to break. He allowed Sumit Nagal eight break-point opportunities in three sets. 

Thiem ranks 14th on the ATP Tour in service games won and sits in the top 25 in break points converted. 

In the second round, Cilic lost four of eight break points to Gombos and only put 62 percent of his first serves in play. 

If Thiem takes advantage of Cilic's mistakes on first serve, the Austrian could earn some early breaks and gain control of the contest.

No. 7 Madison Keys over Alize Cornet

Keys has been one of the most dominant players in either singles draw. 

The seventh-seeded American outscored her two opponents 24-5 in the first two rounds. Cornet has been on court for five sets, one of which went to a tiebreak. 

In addition to being in better form, Keys owns a 3-0 advantage in head-to-head meetings with the French player. 

Two of those three matches have gone the distance, but the third sets in those contests were handled fairly easily by the American. 

Keys, who has spent less than two hours on court in New York, can control the match through her service games. 

In the second round, the American won 24 of her 30 first-serve points and hit 23 winners compared to 14 unforced errors. 

Keys was even more efficient in her opener, as she converted 92 percent of her first-serve points and won 54 percent of her receiving points. 

If Keys continues to dominate on serve, she should have an easy path to the fourth round, especially if she adds a few early breaks to her form when serving.

Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90.

Statistics obtained from USOpen.org, ATPTour.com and WTATennis.com.