US Open Tennis 2020: Monday Night Draw, TV Schedule, Start Times and Picks

The lone American man left in the 2020 U.S. Open takes to the tournament's biggest stage Monday night in an attempt to pull off a major upset in a wide-open draw. 

Frances Tiafoe entered Monday as one of two unseeded players remaining in a competition that does not have any previous Grand Slam champions after Novak Djokovic was disqualified Sunday. 

No. 3 seed Daniil Medvedev was pegged as one of Djokovic's top threats before the tournament, and now that the top seed is out, he is one of the favorites to win the title. 

Tiafoe and Medvedev will square off in Monday night's opener at Arthur Ashe Stadium, and they will be followed by Sofia Kenin and Elise Mertens. 

The second-seeded Kenin was one of four American women to advance to the fourth round. She can join Jennifer Brady and Shelby Rogers in the final eight if she knocks off Mertens.

US Open Monday Night Schedule

TV: ESPN2 (7 p.m. ET)

Live Stream: ESPN.com or ESPN app

Picks

No. 3 Daniil Medvedev over Frances Tiafoe

Frank Franklin II/Associated Press

Medvedev has been one of the most consistent players through the first week in New York. The Russian owns a trio of straight-set victories in which he has not been challenged much by unseeded players. 

If Arthur Ashe was packed with fans, he may have faced more difficulty against Tiafoe due to the home crowd backing him.

But with only support staff, officials and fellow players in attendance, Monday night's match could be more routine for the 2019 U.S. Open finalist. 

Medvedev ranks third out of men that have played three matches in New York in first-serve points won. He has taken 83 percent of his 132 points. 

In the third round, Medvedev allowed American J.J. Wolf four break-point opportunities, two of which were converted. However, the No. 3 seed won those games back with ease, as he converted on seven of his 10 break-point chances. 

On top of being difficult to break on serve, Medvedev was very efficient in his return game Saturday with 33 winners and 10 unforced errors. 

If the disparity between winners and unforced errors is around 15 or 20, Medvedev could play a clean match and earn a spot in the final eight. 

Tiafoe will be playing in just his second fourth-round match at a major, and despite winning in straight sets Saturday, the No. 82 player in the world comes in at a disadvantage. 

The 22-year-old Maryland native put 58 percent of his first serves in play and won 53 percent of his 34 second-serve points against Marton Fucsovics. 

The 31 unforced errors and poor serving numbers from the Hungarian allowed Tiafoe to win in straight sets, but he has to do much better to match Medvedev's game.

No. 2 Sofia Kenin over No. 16 Elise Mertens

Frank Franklin II/Associated Press

Kenin is vying to become the first woman to win both hard-court majors since Angelique Kerber in 2016. 

The Australian Open champion has faced little difficulty reaching the fourth round through a trio of straight-set wins. The lone test in a set faced by Kenin was a first-set tiebreaker against Ons Jabeur in the third round.

Mertens is looking to reach back-to-back U.S. Open quarterfinals, but she needs to clean up some parts of her game to do so while trying to upset Kenin.

The No. 16 seed experienced a less-than-ideal start in her third-round win over Catherine McNally in which she had to rally back to win the opening set 7-5. The Belgian produced the same number of winners and unforced errors and converted 44 percent of her second serves into points. 

Despite those struggles, Mertens should come into Monday night with some confidence against Kenin.

In two head-to-head meetings in 2019, Mertens took the first set off Kenin before the American stormed back for victories. 

If Mertens gains an early advantage again, she could discover more form, like she did in the third round to close out the win. 

However, winning a set off Kenin has been a near-impossible task at Grand Slams in 2020. The highest remaining seed in the women's draw has dropped two sets in 10 matches at the Australian and US Opens. 

Since Kenin has rarely displayed flaws at major tournaments in 2020, it is hard to pick against the second seed, even if Mertens cleans up the errors that plagued her in the third round.

Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90.

Statistics obtained from USOpen.org and WTATennis.com.