Perfect conditions greeted the players on Day 4 at the US Open, one day after play was completely washed out on the outside courts. A total of 11 second round singles matches were carried over from Wednesday.

Stan Wawrinka improved to 6-0 against Jeremy Chardy in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series, edging the Frenchman 6-4, 6-3, 6-7(3), 6-3. In front of a packed Court 17 crowd, the 2016 champion advanced after two hours and 44 minutes. He has reached the quarter-finals or better in four of his past five appearances in New York.

“I think today was a great battle,” said Wawrinka. “I served really well and played aggressive. It was a great atmosphere on this court. For me, I take it match after match and I’m happy with how I’m playing here.”

The tour-level wins leader added a 46th victory in 2019, as Daniil Medvedev moved to an impressive 16-2 in the month of August. The World No. 5 equalled his best result in a Grand Slam with a second round victory over Hugo Dellien on Thursday, defeating the Bolivian 6-3, 7-5, 5-7, 6-3. The Cincinnati champion and runner-up in Washington and Montreal is streaking towards the second week at the US Open.

Denis Kudla needed six match points to put away 27th seed Dusan Lajovic 7-5, 7-5, 0-6, 6-3. The first American into the third round, Kudla is enjoying a career-best result at Flushing Meadows. He will face a third consecutive Serbian opponent on Friday – World No. 1 Novak Djokovic.

On Wednesday, after waiting for nearly seven hours, Alex de Minaur and Cristian Garin played six points before their match was suspended due to rain. As they got underway on Thursday, the #NextGenATP Aussie was eager to get off the court as fast as possible. He sprinted past Garin 6-3, 7-5, 6-3 in two hours and 20 minutes, setting a third-round encounter with World No. 7 Kei Nishikori. It will be their first meeting.

For a second straight match, Poland’s Kamil Majchrzak rallied from a set down to win in five. He outlasted Pablo Cuevas 6-7(3), 6-4, 2-6, 6-4, 6-1, setting a third-round meeting with Grigor Dimitrov. Majchrzak is the first lucky loser into the US Open third round since Leonardo Mayer in 2017.

Daniel Evans booked a third-round blockbuster with Roger Federer after ousting Lucas Pouille 6-4, 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-4 in three hours and 10 minutes. The Brit defeated the 25th seed behind 30 winners and eight break points converted. He will face Federer for the third time in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series, having dropped their two previous Grand Slam encounters in Wimbledon in 2016 and the Australian Open earlier this year.

Also, Pablo Carreno Busta set a third-round meeting with David Goffin. The Spaniard defeated Ricardas Berankis 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-2, 6-0, while the Belgian blasted Gregoire Barrere 6-2, 6-2, 6-2.

Watch Andy Murray vs. Matteo Viola on Thursday, not before 6:30pm CEST/12:30pm EDT

On Thursday, Andy Murray will take the court once again at the Rafa Nadal Open by Sotheby’s, continuing his return to the ATP Challenger Tour. The Scot will face 32-year-old Matteo Viola in what will be their first encounter. The Italian is six years removed from reaching a career-high No. 118 in the ATP Rankings.

Murray is competing in Mallorca in search of match play and confidence in his comeback from hip surgery. He got off to a strong start with wins in back-to-back days, including a 6-3, 6-4 dismissal of 2019 Challenger wins leader Norbert Gombos. The former World No. 1 is competing on the circuit for the first time since 2005.

Yep, @andy_murray is back.

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— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) August 27, 2019

Rain prevented 11 of Wednesday’s 16 scheduled second-round singles matches from being played at the US Open, resulting in a busy Thursday schedule to catch up. Second-seeded Spaniard Rafael Nadal is among the top names in action on Day 4, along with fifth-seeded Russian Daniel Medvedev and sixth-seeded German Alexander Zverev.

Nadal headlines the night session against Aussie wild card Thanasi Kokkinakis. He won his lone FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting against a then-17-year-old Kokkinakis at the 2014 Australian Open. The Aussie was rewarded for years of persistence in dealing with injuries by defeating Ilya Ivashka on Tuesday for his first Grand Slam win in four years. He’s capable of beating anyone when he’s healthy and in top forrm, as evidenced by his stunning upset over Roger Federer last year in Miami.

But the Spaniard has history on his side. He hasn’t lost to a player outside the Top 200 of the ATP Rankings since 2006 Stockholm (l. to J. Johansson) or before the third round in New York since 2004. Nadal also has present form to rely on, arriving off his 35th ATP Masters 1000 title at the Coupe Rogers (d. Medvedev) and a dominant first-round win on Tuesday over another Aussie in John Millman.

“He has a big forehand, big serve. He’s a dangerous opponent, of course,” said Nadal of Kokkinakis. “I need to go on court and to play well. If not, will be a very difficult match.”

Medvedev looks to continue his top-form against Bolivian Hugo Dellien. The Russian is coming off the best three-week run of his career, winning his first ATP Masters 1000 title in Cincinnati (d. Goffin) and finishing runner-up at the Coupe Rogers (l. to Nadal) and Citi Open (l. to Kyrgios). Although Medvedev downplayed himself as a favourite to win this year, pointing out that he’s never reached a Grand Slam quarter-final, that could change if he keeps up his current level.

“These [past] three weeks, I basically didn’t have any downs. I had only great matches,” said Medvedev. “Hopefully I can bring this confidence on the court for two weeks or more.”

Zverev opens the day session with a popcorn clash against #NextGenATP American Frances Tiafoe. The German leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry 3-1, but Tiafoe’s lone win came two years ago on hard courts in Cincinnati. Zverev is seeking confidence after sporting an 8-6 record since Roland Garros, but his five-set victory over Moldovan Radu Albot on Tuesday could spur him on. Tiafoe is also rounding into form again and reached the quarter-finals last week in Winston-Salem.

“I’m just trying to regain my full confidence. It’s about going match by match for me. It’s about doing the best I can for now,” said Zverev. “It’s the first time in probably a few years where I’m not a favorite in any way at a Grand Slam, and it takes some pressure off, as well. It’s a different mindset for me now.”

Other.notable matches on Thursday include No. 13 seed Gael Monfils of France taking on Romanian Marius Copil and No. 14 seed John Isner of the United States facing German Jan-Lennard Struff. Former US Open champion Marin Cilic of Croatia, seeded No. 22, squares off with German Cedrik-Marcel Stebe.

ORDER OF PLAY – THURSDAY, 29 August 2019

Arthur Ashe Stadium start 12:00
[6] Alexander Zverev vs Frances Tiafoe
WTA match

NB 7:00 pm
WTA match
[2] Rafael Nadal vs [WC] Thanasi Kokkinakis

Louis Armstrong Stadium start 11:00
Two WTA matches
[14] John Isner vs Jan-Lennard Struff

NB 7:00 pm
WTA match
[22] Marin Cilic vs Cedrik-Marcel Stebe

Grandstand start 11:00
WTA match
[5] Daniil Medvedev vs Hugo Dellien
WTA match
[28] Nick Kyrgios vs [WC] Antoine Hoang

Court No. 17 start 11:00
WTA match
[23] Stan Wawrinka vs Jeremy Chardy
WTA match
[13] Gael Monfils vs Marius Copil

Click here to view the schedule for all other courts.

Roger Federer appears to be living by a classic Jim George quote so far at this year’s US Open: “It’s not how you start that’s important, but how well you finish.”

The Swiss is through to the third round in New York for the 19th time, but dropped the opening set in both of his matches to Indian qualifier Sumit Nagal and Bosnian Damir Dzumhur. Although he successfully came back from a set down in two consecutive matches for the first time since 2015 Dubai (Djokovic & Berdych), Federer made it clear that he wasn’t pleased with his slow starts.

“I got exactly what I expected from both guys. I knew what Nagal was going to give me. I knew what Dzumhur was going to give me. But I didn’t expect to hit 15 to 20 unforced errors, which is basically in the entire set just sort of donated,” sad Federer. “They came out and were well-prepared and got me to do that. But I clearly have to play better from the get-go.”

The five-time champion won’t have history on his side as he looks to capture his first title in New York since 2008. No player has lost the opening set in their first two matches and gone on to win the US Open since the challenger round was abolished in 1912.

But while Federer isn’t pleased, he isn’t worried. After 21 years on the ATP Tour, this isn’t the first time he hasn’t come out firing to start a tournament. He understands that winning titles isn’t necessarily about perfection, but progress from match to match. The Swiss will be looking for marked improvement in his third-round clash against No. 25 seed Lucas Pouille of France or Brit Daniel Evans.

“I have been in that position many times where you go through a little phase where you don’t start so well and everybody asks you right away, ‘What are you going to do?’ Just go back to the drawing board. Just do the same things again. You hope for a better outcome,” said Federer. “When it happens like this back-to-back matches, it’s just a bit frustrating more than anything, especially when the level is that low and there are that many errors and the energy is not there.

“[I] can only do better, which is a great thing moving forward. I just need to take the positives out of it, because once I lose that first set I do get better, which is a good thing.”

Federer also knows that the work to win Grand Slams comes well before they start. After going on a family caravan trip following last month’s Wimbledon final loss to Novak Djokovic, he engaged in light fitness and hitting sessions at home in Switzerland before slowly increasing the intensity. His practice sessions in New York can only address slight tweaks now that he’s in match mode, but he’s confident that his efforts to start more quickly will come to fruition this fortnight.

“I can’t reinvent myself from today to the third round. That’s where experience kicks in,” said Federer. “Tomorrow I will not practise over an hour, because I believe that all the hard work I have put in since Wimbledon and before, that I’m ready for that… I have had a good season so far and I’m ready for the next round.”