Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in US Open first round action
Tuesday 29 August 2017 22:42, UK
Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal and defending women's champion Angelique Kerber get their US Open campaigns underway on day two at Flushing Meadows.
After the major names in the men's draw emerged in tact from day one it is the turn of Federer and Nadal to take centre stage and both will be action on Arthur Ashe Stadium hoping to remain on course for a first meeting in New York.
The pair are in line for a blockbuster semi-final if they come through the top half of the draw but attention will first focus on their opening match of what they hope will be a successful fortnight.
Jack Sock, David Ferrer and Robin Haase were the only seeded names in the men's draw to fall as the tournament got underway on Monday with Alexander Zverev, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Marin Cilic among the names to progress.
Federer and Nadal will hope to join them although tricky assignments await, with Federer taking on American teenager Frances Tiafoe under the lights in the final match of the night.
NextGen star Tiafoe is beginning to cause a stir having beaten Zverev in Cincinnati and he ran Federer close in their only previous meeting in Miami.
But Federer has his sights set on a third Grand Slam title of the year having won in Australia and at Wimbledon to take his tally to 19 and as a five-time champion will have his own fair share of support from the New York crowd.
Nadal is another former champion in action, the two-time winner takes on Dusan Lajovic in the final match of the afternoon session as he looks to arrest a disappointing record over the last couple of years.
The Spaniard, who claimed the 10th French Open of his career earlier this year, has not gone beyond the fourth round since winning the title in 2013.
Also in action in the men's draw are 2009 champion Juan Martin Del Potro who takes on Switzerland's Henri Laaksonen and 14th seed Nick Kyrgios who faces fellow Australian John Millman.
Dominic Thiem, Grigor Dimitrov, Tomas Berdych and Gael Monfils also begin their attempts to pick up a first career major.
In the women's draw sixth seed Kerber aims to put a disappointing year behind her when she takes on Naomi Osaka.
After a career-best year in 2016 which saw her claim both the Australian and US Opens, the German has not gone beyond the fourth round of a major this year and faces a tough test against the Japanese teenager.
World No 1 Karolina Pliskova also kicks off her bid for a first Grand Slam when she opens the day's action on Arthur Ashe against Poland's Magda Linette.
The Czech reached the final last year before defeat to Kerber and has an Aussie quarter-final and French semi-final under her belt this year and a first slam looks to be imminent for the 25-year-old.
No one has won more titles than Elina Svitolina this year and the Ukrainian fourth seed, who has five tournament victories to her name in 2017, takes on Katerina Siniakova with the aim of going beyond the last eight of a slam for the first time.
There is plenty to cheer the home fans too with Madison Keys in action on Arthur Ashe in the first match of the evening session against Elise Mertens while on Louis Armstrong the all-American clash between Alison Riske and CoCo Vandeweghe looks to be one of the matches of the first round.
Eugenie Bouchard, Svetlana Kuznetsova and French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko are also in action as the first round reaches its conclusion.
Sky Sports Tennis will have all the action from the US Open covered via our website www.skysports.com/tennis with our live blogs and updates throughout the fortnight as the Grand Slam year reaches its climax.
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We will also have coverage of the World Tour Finals in November with every match live on Sky Sports.
