Thursday’s schedule on Arthur Ashe Stadium features some of the sport’s biggest names. The day session starts with a meeting of Major singles champions, as two-time Roland Garros champ Iga Swiatek takes on 2017 US Open champ Sloane Stephens. The night session begins with Serena and Venus Williams playing what is likely their last tournament as a team. And the day ends with Rafael Nadal facing Fabio Fognini, who upset Nadal at this event seven years ago.
Throughout the tournament, this preview will analyze the day’s four most prominent matches, while highlighting the other notable matches on the schedule. Thursday’s play begins at 11:00am local time.
Borna Coric (28) vs. Jenson Brooksby – 11:00am on Grandstand
Coric was a shocking champion two weeks ago in Cincinnati. Ahead of that event, he was only 4-8 at tour level since missing a year of action due to shoulder surgery. In Cincy, he took out five top 20 players (Nadal, Bautista Agut, Auger-Aliassime, Norrie, Tsitsipas). His serve has dramatically improved, averaging less than one break per match in Cincinnati. Yet on Tuesday, he scarcely survived the opening round, coming from behind in the fifth set to prevail 7-5. Brooksby made a name for himself last summer by reaching the final of Newport, the semifinals of Washington, and the fourth round of this event, where he took a set off Novak Djokovic. He mixes an unorthodox style with a tremendous amount of grit. And he had a much easier opening round than Borna, losing only two games before receiving a third-set retirement from Dusan Lajovic. Yet in their first career meeting, Coric should be favored. Borna arrives in New York with far more momentum, and should play more freely after narrowly escaping defeat in the first round.
Iga Swiatek (1) vs. Sloane Stephens – 12:00pm on Arthur Ashe Stadium
This is a rematch from just two weeks ago in Cincinnati, when Swiatek prevailed in two tight sets. Iga is a stellar 51-7 this season, and at one point won 37 matches in a row. But her victory over Stephens is only one of Iga’s three wins on hard courts this summer. Sloane has endured an up-and-down year, with a record of 13-13. She came back from a set down on Tuesday to defeat Greet Minnen. Of course Sloane was the champion here five years ago, and reached the quarterfinals the year after, but hasn’t returned to the second week since. We know she’s capable of playing her best tennis on this court, yet Swiatek remains the favorite. Her all-court game is superior to Sloane’s in 2022.
Lucie Hradecka and Linda Noskova vs. Serena Williams and Venus Williams (WC) – 7:00pm on Arthur Ashe Stadium
This is an extremely rare occasion where a doubles match is scheduled on Arthur Ashe Stadium, much less headlining the night session. And it’s the first time Serena and Venus have played as a team since 2018, and the first time at a Major since Wimbledon in 2016. They are an outrageous 14-0 in Slam finals. But getting to another final in what is presumed to be their last tournament as a team will be extremely challenging. Hradecka is a highly-accomplished doubles veteran with three Major titles of her own between women’s doubles and mixed. Noskova is a 17-year-old ranked outside the top 100 in singles, and outside the top 200 in doubles. And perhaps most importantly, this is Hradecka and Noskova’s first event as a team. That, along with a partisan crowd of 23,000 inside Arthur Ashe Stadium, makes the Williams sisters the favorites to prolong their doubles career as a team by at least one more match.
Fabio Fognini vs. Rafael Nadal (2) – Last on Arthur Ashe Stadium
Seven years ago in New York, Fognini handed Nadal his first-ever loss from two-sets-up at a Major. Fabio simply outhit in the last three sets of that late-night match to prevail. Overall Rafa leads their head-to-head 13-4, and 7-1 on hard courts. That 2015 US Open victory is the Italian’s only win over Nadal on a hard court, as well as the only one at a Slam. Most recently they met at last year’s Australian Open, where Rafa prevailed in straight sets. Nadal is now 36-4 this year, and still yet to be defeated at a Major. Fognini has underperformed this year, especially at the Slams, where he was 1-3 before arriving in New York. Yet on Tuesday, Fabio pulled off another comeback victory from two-sets-down, this time over Aslan Karatsev. But despite Nadal’s recent abdominal injury, and his ongoing foot issues, Rafa is the clear favorite to avenge that painful loss from seven years ago.
Other Notable Matches on Thursday:
Federico Coria vs. Carlos Alcaraz (3) – Alcaraz is now 45-9 on the year. Coria is a 30-year-old who defeated Carlitos in their only previous meeting, two years ago on clay in Rio de Janeiro.
Garbine Muguruza (9) vs. Linda Fruhvirtova (Q) – Muguruza earned just the tenth win of her season on Tuesday. Fruhvirtova is a 17-year-old who advanced to the fourth round of the Miami Open this year with impressive victories over Elise Mertens and Victoria Azarenka.
Leylah Fernandez and Daria Saville vs. Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula (2) – This is Fernandez and Saville’s first event as a team. Gauff is the newly-crowned world No.1 in doubles. Her and Pegula have won two titles this season, and reached the final of the French Open.
Kaia Kanepi vs. Aryna Sabalenka (6) – Kanepi was a finalist earlier this summer in Washington. And she is 2-0 against Sabalenka, which includes a tight fourth-round match this past January at the Australian Open, decided by a final-set tiebreak.
Thursday’s full Order of Play is here.
