Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal will return to the court on Saturday. Despite not playing their best in their first two rounds, they’ll still be heavily favored in their matches. Let’s focus instead on what should be some of the more competitive matches on Day 6.
Agnieszka Radwanska vs. Coco Vandeweghe
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Embed from Getty Images
This will be the second match of the day on Arthur Ashe Stadium. Radwanska leads the head-to-head 5-1, and surprisingly has won all of their hard court meetings in straight sets. Vandeweghe has never even won a set on a hard court against Radwanska, including their meeting a few weeks ago in Toronto. That being said, Coco has been the more in-form player in 2017, with six more wins on the year than Agnieszka. Vandeweghe’s year was highlighted by her run to the semifinals at the Australian Open, though she’s never played well at her home major: her appearance in this year’s third round is her best showing yet. Coco is obviously a strong hard court player, but can she figure out how to defeat Radwanska on this surface, and get a big win in front of a supportive American crowd?
Jelena Ostapenko vs. Daria Kasatkina
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Meanwhile on Louis Armstrong Stadium, this will be a battle of two 20-year-olds, and could be a preview of a rivalry for many years to come. These youngsters already faced off earlier this year in the United States, as this is a rematch from the final in Charleston. Kasatkina prevailed on the green clay that day, but obviously Ostapenko went on to win a much bigger title on the red clay in Paris just two months later. Jelena won the other two times they played, but they have never met on a hard court. This matchup is reminiscent of the Alexander Zverev/Borna Coric contest from Wednesday: two 20-year-olds taking the court, but one has achieved much more than the other. Can Kasatkina, like Coric did on Wednesday, make a statement by upsetting the more accomplished player?
Roberto Bautista Agut vs. Juan Martín Del Potro
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Embed from Getty Images
Over on the Grandstand we’ll see one of the most popular players on tour against one of the hottest players on tour. After returning to the court last year following multiple wrist surgeries, Del Potro was warmly welcomed back, and ascended to some great heights. After upsetting Stan Wawrinka at the 2016 Wimbledon, he defeated Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal in winning a silver medal at the Rio Olympics. He would then bring more glory to his country by helping to win Argentina’s first ever Davis Cup title, winning scintillating five-setters over Andy Murray and Marin Cilic in carrying his team to victory. 2017 however has seen Del Potro struggle to get any momentum going. He has not titles on the year, and has yet to advance past the third round at a major. On the other hand, Bautista Agut is putting together the strongest season of his career. The 29-year-old is currently at his career-high ranking of number 13. He has two titles on the year, including just last week in Winston-Salem. The two have split their previous meetings – both were on hard courts, and both were tight encounters. At his best, Del Potro is the better player, and should be able to dictate the outcome with his ground strokes. Unfortunately since Del Potro has not been at his best of late, Bautista Agut should be favored on Saturday.
David Goffin vs. Gael Monfils
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Back on Louis Armstrong, we’ll have two of the speediest players in the world. It will be interesting to see how much either of them have left in their tanks though, as both men played five sets just 48 hours ago. These two have also split their previous meetings, both of which were hard court battles last year that went to a final set. Goffin was red hot for the first several months of 2017, before an extremely unfortunate incident at the French Open where he injured his ankle by sliding onto the tarp folded up at the edge of the court. Goffin has only played nine matches since then, with this week being the first time in three months that he’s won back-to-back matches. Monfils meanwhile has underperformed through all of 2017 after having the most consistent year of his career in 2016. He’ll surely be feeling some pressure in this match, as he’s defending semifinal points from last year’s US Open. If Monfils and Goffin’s legs have recovered from their second round matches, this should be an extremely entertaining affair.
Madison Keys vs. Elena Vesnina
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This will be the final match of the day under the lights of Arthur Ashe Stadium. Following multiple procedures on her wrist earlier this year, Keys has found her game again this summer. She won the title in Stanford, beating Garbine Muguruza in the semis and Coco Vandeweghe in the final. Muguruza then gained revenge in Cincinnati, but Keys pushed her to a final set tiebreak. Earlier this year, Vesnina achieved the biggest title of her career, which happened to be on American hard courts in Indian Wells. However, Vesnina has been unable to follow-up, as since Indian Wells she’s had more losses than wins. Keys won both previous matches she’s had against Vesnina, and will be the favorite here. Still this is a step up in competition for Keys from her first two rounds, and will help reveal just how serious a contender she may be to win her first major in New York.
SINGLES ORDER OF PLAY – Day 6, September 2
Play starts at 11:00 local time unless otherwise stated
Arthur Ashe Stadium
Karolina Pliskova (CZE) [1] v Shuai Zhang (CHN) [27]
Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) [10] v CoCo Vanderweghe (USA) [20]
Rafael Nadal (ESP) [1] v Leonardo Mayer (ARG)
From 19:00
Roger Federer (SUI) [3] v Feliciano Lopez (ESP) [31]
Elena Vesnina (RUS) [17] v Madison Keys (USA) [15]
Louis Armstrong Stadium
Adrian Mannarino (FRA) [30] v DOminic Thiem (AUT) [6]
Jelena Ostapenko (LAT) [12] v Daria Kasatkina (RUS)
David Goffin (BEL) [9] v Gael Monfils (FRA) [18]
Grandstand
Victor Troicki (SRB) v Alexandr Dolgopolov (UKR)
Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP) [11] v Juan Martin del Potro (ARG) [24]
Elina Svitolina (UKR) [4] v Shelby Rogers (USA)
Court 17
Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) [33] v John Millman (AUS)
Jennifer Brady (USA) v Monica Niculescu (ROU)
Court 5
Lucie Safarova (CZE) v Naomi Osaka (JPN)
Damir Dzumhur (BIH) v ANdrey Rublev (RUS)
