The third round begins on Friday, which is when seeded players start to collide in the singles draws.
On Day 5, two American women who have been Major finalists, Coco Gauff and Jennifer Brady, face tough opponents in Caroline Wozniacki and Elise Mertens, respectively. And two American men who have been Major semifinalists, Frances Tiafoe and Tommy Paul, face seeded opposition, in Adrian Mannarino and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, respectively. Are these Americans ready to deep runs at their home Slam?
Other third round action on Friday features Major champions Iga Swiatek, Elena Rybakina, and Novak Djokovic.
Throughout the tournament, this preview will analyze the day’s four most prominent matches, while highlighting the other notable matches on the schedule. Friday’s play gets underway at 11:00am local time.
Tommy Paul (14) vs. Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (21) – 12:00pm on Arthur Ashe Stadium
Following his semifinal performance this past January in Australia, and his impressive summer where he defeated Carlos Alcaraz in Canada for the second straight year, many have named Paul as a strong candidate to make another deep run here in New York. But on Wednesday, he nearly exited this tournament, having to come back from two sets down against Roman Safiullin. And Tommy is yet to perform well at this event, where he’s just 4-5 lifetime.
Davidovich Fokina did not drop a set through his first two rounds, and just a few weeks ago in Toronto, advanced to the semifinals. He collected impressive wins that week over both Sascha Zverev and Casper Ruud. Alejandro has reached the fourth round in New York two out of the last three years.
This should be a compelling contest between two great movers and entertaining shot-makers. This will be their third meeting this season, and both have gone to Paul. That includes a near four-hour five-setter at the Australian Open, and a straight-setter in Miami. After escaping near-defeat on Wednesday, Tommy should play much more freely on Friday, and is the favorite to earn a third consecutive victory over Alejandro.
Caroline Wozniacki (WC) vs. Jennifer Brady (PR) – Not Before 1:00pm on Arthur Ashe Stadium
Wozniacki and Brady must be thrilled with their runs this week in New York. Caroline retired from the sport in January of 2020, and after three-and-a-half years of inactivity, she returned this month, and defeated two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova on Wednesday night.
Jen missed nearly two years of competition due to multiple injuries, and recently revealed to ESPN how depressed she became during this time. But in just her fourth tour-level tournament back, Brady is into the third round after taking out Australian Open semifinalist Magda Linette.
In their first career meeting, both players have played the same amount of tennis across the past few years: very little. On Friday, I favor the more aggressive style of Brady over Wozniacki’s consistency. I don’t expect Jen to spray as many errors as Kvitova did in the last round, and her serve can earn the American a lot of free points.
Adrian Mannarino (22) vs. Frances Tiafoe (10) – Third on Louis Armstrong Stadium
Defending Major semifinal points for the first time in his career, Tiafoe has handled the challenge excellently thus far. He has not dropped a set through two rounds, improving his record on the year to 35-14. Frances is looking to reach the round of 16 in New York for the fourth consecutive year.
Mannarino is enjoying a good summer in the United States. He won the grass court event in Newport, and was a quarterfinalist in Cincinnati. This is the French veteran’s 13th main draw appearance at the US Open, but he is yet to advance beyond the third round, with an 0-4 record at this stage.
These players have split two prior meetings, both on hard courts. Seven years ago in Washington, Mannarino prevailed in two tight sets. Five years ago at this same event, Tiafoe prevailed in four sets. And while Mannarino is in-form, and has an unorthodox style that can easily disrupt Tiafoe’s game, Frances should still be favored to beat Adrian again at the US Open.
Elise Mertens (32) vs. Coco Gauff (6) – 7:00pm on Arthur Ashe Stadium
Gauff is 40-13 this season, and 13-1 this summer on hard courts. After surviving a long first round encounter against Laura Siegemund, she comfortably prevailed over fellow teenager Mirra Andreeva on Wednesday afternoon. Coco was a quarterfinalist here a year ago, her best result in New York to date.
Mertens came back from a set down in the last round to upset another American, Danielle Collins, even saving match points in the second set tiebreak. Most of Elise’s recent success has come in doubles, and she is just 22-17 this year in singles. She is a two-time quarterfinalist at the US Open, and is 4-0 in the third round of this event.
Gauff leads their head-to-head 2-0. Two years ago on grass in Eastbourne, she won 7-5 in the third. Last year on clay at Roland Garros, she won 6-4, 6-0. While Mertens’ variety can be remarkably bothersome, Coco is a solid favorite to advance on Friday.
Other Notable Matches on Friday:
Karolina Muchova (10) vs. Taylor Townsend – Muchova is now 35-12 on the season, and is coming off a run to the final in Cincinnati. Townsend upset Beatriz Haddad Maia on Wednesday.
Iga Swiatek (1) vs. Kaja Juvan (Q) – As per usual, Swiatek has easily advanced through her first two rounds at a Slam. And Iga is 2-0 against 22-year-old Juvan.
Laslo Djere (32) vs. Novak Djokovic (32) – Djokovic has not lost before the fourth round at a Major since the 2017 Australian Open. Last year on clay in Belgrade, Novak outlasted fellow Serbian Djere in a third-set tiebreak.
Elena Rybakina (4) vs. Sorana Cirstea (30) – Rybakina received a walkover in the last round from Ajla Tomljanovic. Cirstea was quarterfinalist this year at Indian Wells, and a semifinalist in Miami. Elena is 2-0 against Sorana.
Friday’s full Order of Play is here.