Third-round action kicks off on Friday in New York with Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic holding down Ashe, while a trio of American men trek out to Armstrong and Grandstand. Here’s what we’ll be watching.
See the full Day 6 schedule here
Novak at Night
Novak Djokovic could be in for a physical test on Friday night in New York, as the 24-time major champion will face Cameron Norrie. It’s a lopsided head-to-head in favor of Djokovic, who has won all six clashes with the Brit, but Djokovic will have to show better energy than he has demonstrated in his first two victories, over Learner Tien and Zachary Zvajda.
It’s difficult to know what to expect from the 38-year-old, but the good news is that he has put two victories under his belt in his first tournament since Wimbledon. Perhaps that has allowed him to shed some of the rust and fatigue he felt during his first two matches.
35th-ranked Norrie has beel climbing up the rankings this year, but he entered the tournament riding a three-match losing streak on hard courts, having lost in the first round at Canada and Cincinnati to unseeded players.
Raducanu vs Rybakina
Emma Raducanu has dropped just six games through two matches and she’ll take her scorching form into a heavily anticipated clash with Elena Rybakina on Armstrong, first up. The 2021 champion is looking very comfortable in New York and she could present big problems for Rybakina, who is trying to reach the first week for the first time at the Open.
Townsend Gets Spotlight
Taylor Townsend has been in the news quite a bit since her second-round win over Jelena Ostapenko, but nobody is talking about her tennis. That should change on Friday night she faces 18-year-old Mirra Andreeva in third-round action in the final night session match in Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Townsend will do her best to get the crowd involved and go on the attack against the Russian craftmaster as she tries to reach the fourth round for the second time. The US Open is the only Slam where Andreeva she yet to reach the second week, and the No.5 seed will try to change that on Friday.
A weird stat: The last two times teenagers have won the title at Indian Wells, they have gone on to win the US Open title in the same year. It happened to Serena Williams in 1999 and it happened to Bianca Andreescu in 2019. Will Andreeva, who defeated Sabalenka in a memorable Indian Wells final, be the third?
Americans off Ashe
Three American men will be in action on Friday but none of them will play on Ashe. Ben Shelton will take to Armstrong against Adrian Mannarino, the 37-year-old Frenchman; Taylor Fritz gets the Armstrong night session against Swiss qualifier Jerome Kym, while Frances Tiafoe treks out to Grandstand to face German qualifier Jan-Lennard Struff. We think the Americans will engineer a clean sweep, 3-0.
