2019 US Open: Day Four Preview

August 28, 2019 | By Brian Coleman
Zverev
Photo Credit: Brian Coleman/LI Tennis Magazine

 

Mother Nature proved to be the victor at the US Open on Wednesday as rain washed away all matches on the outside courts, with only matches inside Arthur Ashe and Louis Armstrong Stadiums able to be played.

That means the schedule will be packed more than usual on Thursday, as the 2019 US Open’s Day Four will feature a heavy slate of second-round singles matches and the opening round of the doubles draw. 

Teenage phenom Coco Gauff looks to build off of her comeback win against fellow teenager Russia’s Anastasia Potapova on Tuesday as she takes on Hungarian Timea Babos in the opening match of the Night Session on Armstrong. Gauff once again impressed as she came back from a set down in her first ever main draw match at the US Open, and will aim to follow that up Babos, who is one of the best doubles players on tour.

Kicking things off on Armstrong is sixth-seed Petra Kvitova and Andrea Petkovic in a matchup of two tour veterans, and that match precedes defending champion Naomi Osaka taking the court. Osaka came out of the gate rusty in her opener as she had to go the distance against Russia’s Anna Blinkova on Tuesday. The top-seed from Japan plays Poland’s Magda Linette who has played excellent tennis over the last couple of weeks. Linette won the NYJTL Bronx Open last week, and carried that momentum into her first-round victory in Flushing Meadows. 

An exciting contest between two young stars opens up on Ashe as sixth-seed Alexander Zverev meets American Frances Tiafoe. The two players are coming off of contrasting matches in their respective openers, as Zverev battled through five sets against Radu Albot while Tiafoe moved through in three sets against Ivo Karlovic, who had to retire midway through the third. Zverev leads the head-to-head 3-1. 

Closing out play on Ashe will be second-seed Rafael Nadal as he continues his pursuit for a fourth US Open title. He plays Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis who earned his first win since 2015 at the US Open when he won a tough four-setter against Ilya Ivashka on Tuesday. The two have played just once before but that was five years ago at the Australian Open, a straight-sets win for Nadal. That will match will follow two-time finalist and 19th seed Caroline Wozniacki taking on American Danielle Collins in what should be a really exciting matchup. 

There will be a heavy contingent on the men’s side in action led by 14th seed John Isner, who takes on German Jan-Lennard Struff. Jenson Brooksby, the teenage qualifier, Denis Kudla and Tennys Sandgren, in addition to the aforementioned Tiafoe, will look to continue their runs. While on the women’s side, 20th seed Sofia Kenin gets the Grandstand slate going when she plays Laura Siegemund, and New York-born Kristie Ahn seeks to build off of her victory against former champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in the opening round. 

Simona Halep, as well as former champions Stan Wawrinka and Marin Cilic, will hit the courts as well, in addition to a packed doubles slate which features local players Noah Rubin and Jamie Loeb. 

All that and more as Day Four at the 2019 US Open will be a thrilling one from start to finish on Thursday. In total, there will be 75 matches played at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. 

Click Here to see the full schedule for Day Four at the 2019 US Open.

 


Brian Coleman
Senior Editor, Long Island Tennis Magazine
Brian Coleman is the Senior Editor for Long Island Tennis Magazine. He may be reached at brianc@usptennis.com.
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