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

The first U.S. Open match at Louis Armstrong Stadium Sunday could deliver the best play.

Angelique Kerber and Jennifer Brady have been two of the strongest players in the women's singles draw through three rounds, and they will meet with a quarterfinal berth on the line. 

Neither seeded player has lost a set in the portion of the draw that was opened up after No. 1 seed Karolina Pliskova fell in the second round. 

Over in the men's singles draw, the No. 1 seed is alive and well. Novak Djokovic will put his 26-0 season record on the line in the second afternoon match at Arthur Ashe Stadium against Pablo Carreno Busta. 

Djokovic and Carreno Busta will compete in the only afternoon men's match involving two seeded players. Alexander Zverev and Borna Coric take on unseeded players in their portions of the draw.

U.S. Open Sunday Schedule

Start Time: 11 a.m. ET

TV: ESPN 

Live Stream: Watch ESPN or ESPN app

Picks

No. 28 Jennifer Brady over No. 17 Angelique Kerber

Seth Wenig/Associated Press

Brady entered the U.S. Open in some of the best form in the women's draw. 

The 28th-seeded American won the Top Seed Open in Lexington, Kentucky, which served as a tune-up for two tournaments in New York.

Brady did not let a first-round loss at the Western and Southern Open deter her form. She rebounded from that defeat with three straight two-set wins at the U.S. Open.

Brady goes into her first head-to-head clash with Kerber at a significant disadvantage in experience since the No. 17 seed is a three-time major champion.

However, Brady's recent form could be the more important difference-maker in one of Sunday's first matches. 

Brady has not allowed an opponent to win more than three games over six sets, and she is coming off a dominant performance against an experienced player in Caroline Garcia. 

The most important statistic from that win was her nine unforced errors. If she remains clean and serves well, she could take the first set off Kerber in the tournament. 

If there is a flaw Brady can expose, it is on Kerber's serve. The 17th-seeded German converted 63 percent of her first serves into points in her third-round win over Ann Li. 

Kerber also had three more unforced errors than winners Friday, and if the disparity between the two numbers remains low, Brady may have a chance to pounce. 

Since both players are competing at a high level, it would not be surprising to see the match go the distance. 

But if it does end in straight sets, Brady seems more likely to win in that fashion because of how dominant she has been on serve.

No. 1 Novak Djokovic over No. 20 Pablo Carreno Busta

Frank Franklin II/Associated Press

Djokovic has a good chance of extending his perfect record against a player he has never lost to. 

The No. 1 men's seed owns a 3-0 head-to-head record against Carreno Busta. In those matches, Djokovic lost a single set and won four sets by three games or more. 

In their only hard-court match, Djokovic swept Carreno Busta 6-3 6-4 at the 2019 Western and Southern Open. 

In the nine sets Djokovic has won in New York, he let an opponent win four games on two occasions. He also lost a set in the second round against Kyle Edmund. 

Djokovic needed one hour and 43 minutes to eliminate Jan-Lennard Struff in the third round. He won 80 percent of his first-serve points and took 18 of 22 points at net. 

If the top seed is that efficient in all areas of the court Sunday, he may be on the surface for less than two hours again. 

Carreno Busta needs a perfect performance just to have a chance to beat Djokovic, but he does come into the match with plenty of confidence. 

The 20th-seeded Spaniard wracked up back-to-back straight set victories in which he outscored his opponents 36-14. 

But his game needs to be cleaner than it was in the third round to pose a challenge Sunday. Carreno Busta had one more winner than unforced error and only put 66 percent of his first serves in play in the third round. 

If Carreno Busta is more accurate on first serves, he could at least force Djokovic to win a few tight sets, or a tiebreak or two, but until he can prove that he can take two sets off the top seed, it seems unlikely that he will move on.

Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90.

Statistics obtained from USOpen.org and ATPTour.com.