Defending Western & Southern Open champion Daniil Medvedev will have his hands full Wednesday afternoon if he hopes to keep his title defence dreams alive. The Russian will play eighth seed Roberto Bautista Agut in what promises to be a gruelling battle on Grandstand at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

Medvedev and Bautista Agut are two of the most solid players on the ATP Tour, driving opponents crazy by neutralising all the offence thrown at them. Now the pair will try to outwit one another for a spot in the semi-finals of this ATP Masters 1000, the first tournament since play was suspended in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bautista Agut won the pair’s only previous ATP Head2Head meeting 6-3, 6-4 in the 2017 Chennai final. Then 20, Medvedev was World No. 99 and competing in his first ATP Tour final. He has since claimed seven tour-level trophies, including two (2019 Cincinnati and Shanghai) at the ATP Masters 1000 level.

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic will try to make the semi-finals of the Western & Southern Open for the eighth time when he faces big-hitting German Jan-Lennard Struff. The World No. 34, who is into his first Masters 1000 quarter-final, will hope to challenge the top seed.

“He’s one of the best in the game. He’s so good and still there are chances to beat him, but he’s [20-0] this year. It’s crazy, just crazy,” Struff said. “But the more you win, there is always a chance that you lose at some point. Maybe he has the aim to go undefeated in this short season, but you never know what will happen.”

Djokovic leads their ATP Head2Head series 3-0, but Struff pushed the Serbian to four sets in the first round of this year’s Australian Open. That was one of only five matches this season that Djokovic did not win in straight sets. Struff will look to take advantage of the quick Flushing Meadows hard courts as he did against Alex de Minaur, Denis Shapovalov and David Goffin.

Reigning Nitto ATP Finals champion Stefanos Tsitsipas had not won a Western & Southern Open match entering the week. But the Greek star will play first-time Masters 1000 quarter-finalist Reilly Opelka for a spot in the last four. Tsitsipas beat another big server, John Isner, on Tuesday evening. He has never faced Opelka.

“I expect a difficult fight, a difficult battle. He has played John a few times and he holds a positive record against him, so I’m expecting better. I feel like there’s nothing wrong to expect better tomorrow,” Tsitsipas said. “I just need to be very well-prepared for that one. I’m sure there are going to be more rallies from the baseline and the serve is going to be more difficult to return, so I have to keep my focus at an even higher level.”

Former World No. 3 Milos Raonic, who ousted Andy Murray in the third round, will try to maintain his good form against Serbian Filip Krajinovic. The Canadian will be playing a confident opponent, as Krajinovic lost a combined six games in his past two matches against second seed Dominic Thiem and Hungarian qualifier Marton Fucsovics.

ORDER OF PLAY – WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2020

GRANDSTAND start 11:00 am
WTA Match

Not Before 1:00 pm
[3] Daniil Medvedev vs [8] Roberto Bautista Agut
[1] Novak Djokovic vs Jan-Lennard Struff

Not Before 5:00 pm
WTA Match

Not Before 7:00 pm
Milos Raonic vs Filip Krajinovic

COURT 17 Not Before 1:00 pm
WTA Match
WTA Match

Not Before 5:00 pm
Reilly Opelka vs [4] Stefanos Tsitsipas

COURT 10 start 11:00 am
Jean-Julien Rojer / Horia Tecau vs [WC] Steve Johnson / Austin Krajicek
[8] Wesley Koolhof / Nikola Mektic vs Pablo Carreno Busta / Alex de Minaur
Jamie Murray / Neal Skupski vs [6] Kevin Krawietz / Andreas Mies
TBA – [3] Rajeev Ram / Joe Salisbury vs [5] Marcel Granollers / Horacio Zeballos

Following this week’s Western & Southern Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, the ATP Tour will continue on with the US Open. The draw for the 2020 edition will be held on Thursday in New York, with World No. 1 Novak Djokovic set to lead the field. 

Djokovic is a three-time champion at this hard-court major (2011, ’15, ’18), and will be going for his second Grand Slam title of the season following his triumph at the Australian Open. Dominic Thiem, who finished runner-up to Djokovic in Melbourne, will be seeded second.

Third seed Daniil Medvedev will look for another memorable run at Flushing Meadows, where he rallied from two sets down against Rafael Nadal in the 2019 final before the Spaniard prevailed 7-5, 6-3, 5-7, 4-6, 6-4 after a four-hour, 49-minute battle.

View Who Is Playing, Past Champions, Archived Draws

Five different players have won the US Open over the past decade. In addition to Djokovic and Nadal (2010, ’13, ’17, ’19), champions include Andy Murray (2012), Marin Cilic (2014) and Stan Wawrinka (2016). Murray, who fought past Frances Tiafoe and Alexander Zverev in the first two rounds of the Western & Southern Open, is a wild card entry. 

Here’s all you need to know about the US Open: when is the draw, what is the schedule, where to watch, who has won and more.  

Established: 1881

Tournament Dates: 31 August – 13 September 2020

Director: Stacey Allaster

Draw Ceremony: Thursday, 27 August

Schedule (View On Official Website)
* Main draw: Monday, 31 August – Monday, 7 September at 11:00am and 7:00pm
* Singles quarter-finals, doubles semi-finals: Tuesday, 8 September – Wednesday, 9 September at 12:00pm.and 7:00pm
* Doubles final: Thursday, 10 September at 3:00pm
* Singles semi-finals: Friday, 1 September at 4:00pm
* Singles final: Sunday, 13 September at 4:00pm

How To Watch
View TV Schedule

Venue: USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center

Prize Money: $21,656,000

Honour Roll (Open Era)
Most Titles, Singles: Jimmy Connors, Roger Federer, Pete Sampras (5)
Most Titles, Doubles: Mike Bryan (6)
Oldest Champion: Ken Rosewall, 35, in 1970
Youngest Champion: Pete Sampras, 19, in 1990
Lowest-Ranked Champion (since 1979): No. 20 Andre Agassi in 1994
Most Match Wins: Jimmy Connors (98)

2019 Finals
Singles: [2] Rafael Nadal (ESP) d [5] Daniil Medvedev (RUS) 75 63 57 46 64  Read More
Doubles: [1] Juan Sebastian Cabal (COL) / Robert Farah (COL) d [8] Marcel Granollers (ESP) / Horacio Zeballos (ARG) 64 75 Read More

Social
Hashtag: #USOpen
Facebook: @usopentennis
Twitter: @usopen
Instagram: @usopen

Did You Know… The US Open bears little resemblance to the tournament started in 1881. It has evolved from an exclusive men’s singles and doubles tournament in Newport, R.I., to a two-week sports and entertainment extravaganza held at Flushing Meadows. More than 700,000 fans enter the gates annually at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, but the 2020 tournament will be played without fans on site due to COVID-19.

Stefanos Tsitsipas advanced to his first Western & Southern Open quarter-final on Tuesday, beating 2013 runner-up John Isner 7-6(2), 7-6(4).

“It was a very difficult match. My level of focus and attention had to be there all the time,” Tsitsipas said. “John is a very unpredictable player. He can be very aggressive sometimes. If you don’t play with first serves, it can get quite dangerous with him, so I think being aggressive and pressing all the time was something very important today.” 

Tsitsipas held his nerve in two tie-break sets and won 84 per cent of first-serve points (38/45) to advance after one hour and 42 minutes. The 22-year-old improves to 15-5 this year following his second victory in four ATP Head2Head contests against Isner.

“I did feel very comfortable, didn’t feel any nerves. Even when it came to the tie-breaks. I felt very comfortable and decisive with the tactics I wanted to follow,” Tsitsipas said. “Overall it was a great performance and I think I can still improve a few things in tomorrow’s match. Not putting any pressure on me, but I think I can be even more aggressive and play with higher percentages.”

Tsitsipas is bidding to reach his third straight final on the ATP Tour. In his two most recent events prior to the ATP Tour suspension, the World No. 6 lifted the Open 13 Provence trophy and finished as runner-up at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships for the second straight year.

Following his win against 6’10” Isner, Tsitsipas will meet another big-serving American, 6’11” Reilly Opelka, in the quarter-finals. Opelka landed 19 aces and dropped just two points behind his first serve (33/35) to eliminate sixth seed Matteo Berrettini 6-3, 7-6(4).

After 11 service games without a break point, Tsitsipas was unable to convert set point at 5-6, 30/40, in the first set. But the reigning Nitto ATP Finals champion moved up the court behind his forehand and served well to clinch the opener with a dominant tie-break performance. The Greek converted his second set point with an ace down the T, his fourth ace of the match.

Another tie-break was needed in the second set and Tsitsipas made the crucial breakthrough at 4/4. The five-time ATP Tour titlist forced Isner into his backhand corner with depth to extract an error and earned two match points with a powerful forehand up the line. Tsitsipas needed only one opportunity, directing the ball back into Isner’s backhand corner to force another mistake from his opponent.

Milos Raonic earned his first win against Andy Murray in more than six years on Tuesday evening, snapping an eight-match losing streak against the former World No. 1 with a 6-2, 6-2 victory in the third round of the Western & Southern Open.

In a battle of former Top 5 players, Raonic stormed through the first set before play was suspended at 6:18 p.m. local time due to torrential rain. About an hour and a half later, Raonic broke in the first game after the resumption and never looked back. He advanced to the quarter-finals after one hour and 29 minutes.

“I just really tried to do the things that I’m good at well, and that was really my intention,” Raonic said. “A lot of those things I did well today.”

In the first tournament since play was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic in March, Raonic has picked up where he left off. The 29-year-old reached the semi-finals of his most recent event at the Delray Beach Open by VITACOST.com, and he also made the Australian Open quarter-finals (l. to Djokovic).

The quick courts of Flushing Meadows are helping Raonic, who crushed 10 aces and won 88 per cent of his first-serve points. The World No. 30 has won all 27 of his service games this week and saved each of the five break points he has faced.

Murray, who underwent his second hip surgery after last year’s Australian Open, showed vintage form on Monday to beat 2018 Nitto ATP Finals champion Alexander Zverev in three gruelling sets. But the big-serving Raonic kept the Brit from finding much rhythm, winning all eight of his service games. 

“The fact that he’s able to beat a Top 10 player doesn’t surprise me. I think Andy holds himself to a high standard,” Raonic said. “There is a piece of metal in his hip, and there are not many guys coming back from that, so congratulations to him. Every single time he does step out there, it’s going to be impressive each time.”

Murray looked sharp in the early rallies against Zverev, mixing up paces and outmaneouvring the German. But his baseline game was not as crisp against Raonic. The wild card dumped an inside-out forehand into the net at 2-2 in the first set to give the former World No. 3 the early break, a sign of things to come. Raonic kept Murray, one of the best returners of this generation, from getting solid strikes on his returns by using his power and mixing up locations.

The key moment came at 3-2 in the second set, when Murray earned his only two break points. Raonic shrugged off the first with a swinging forehand volley and the second with a low volley.

Raonic hadn’t beaten Murray since the 2014 BNP Paribas Open. The pair’s most recent battle came at the 2016 Nitto ATP Finals, where Murray saved a match point to beat the Canadian 5-7, 7-6(5), 7-6(9), keeping his year-end No. 1 dreams alive.

“I don’t know how much of it was due to the conditions at the beginning or if I was just a little bit slow. I don’t know,” Murray said. “But I was really not happy with that at all. I have much higher standards than that. Not good enough tonight.”

Raonic will compete in the last eight of the Western & Southern Open for the fifth time, next facing Filip Krajinovic. The Serbian, who defeated second seed Dominic Thiem in the second round, eliminated Hungarian qualifier Marton Fucsovics 6-2, 6-1.

Krajinovic has lost only 15 games in three matches to reach his first ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final since he made the championship match of the 2017 Rolex Paris Masters.

Steve Johnson and Austin Krajicek upset second seeds Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo 6-3, 7-6(4) on Tuesday to reach the Western & Southern Open quarter-finals.

The Americans won 81 per cent of their service points (48/59) to overcome the 2017 semi-finalists in 77 minutes. Krajicek and Johnson are yet to drop a set this week, having beaten Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen 6-0, 6-2 in the first round.

The unseeded pairing will next face Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau, who beat seventh seeds Raven Klaasen and Oliver Marach in straight sets on Monday.

Jamie Murray and Neal Skupski built on their first-round victory against top seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah. The Brits outlasted Nikola Cacic and Dusan Lajovic 6-3, 4-6, 10-5 and will meet Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies in the quarter-finals.

Neal Skupski and Jamie Murray are seeking their first title as a team.” />

The sixth seeds rallied from a set down to defeat Jurgen Melzer and Edouard Roger-Vasselin 3-6, 6-4, 10-4. Krawietz and Mies are attempting to capture their first ATP Masters 1000 trophy in only their fifth tournament appearance at the level this week.

Reilly Opelka continued his sweep into the Western & Southern Open quarter-finals — his first at ATP Masters 1000 level — on Tuesday with a brisk 75-minute victory.

Opelka recorded just the fifth Top 10 win of his career with a 6-3, 7-6(4) triumph over sixth seed Matteo Berrettini. He now challenges fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas or 2013 finalist John Isner.

Opelka struck 29 winners, including 19 aces, and forced Berrettini into a forehand error for the only break of the match in the eighth game. The American won 33 of his 35 first-service points, committed 12 unforced errors and clinched 51 points under three shots to Berrettini’s 38.

Overall this week in New York, Opelka has struck 50 aces, including 18 against Cameron Norrie in the first round and 13 against Diego Schwartzman in the second round.

The 22-year-old is now 10-3 on the season, suspended for five months due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. He lifted his second ATP Tour title in February at the Delray Beach Open by VITACOST.com.

Novak Djokovic charged past Tennys Sandgren 6-2, 6-4 at the Western & Southern Open on Tuesday afternoon to extend his unbeaten start to the year to 20 matches.

The World No. 1 won 84 per cent of first-serve points (26/31) and saved all four break points he faced to advance after 88 minutes. Djokovic underwent a medical timeout in his opening match against Ricardas Berankis on Monday evening to have his neck worked on, also reaching for his head in the second set after an awkward landing. But the 2018 champion showed no physical issues in the third round.

“I’m as close to [being] painless [in my] neck as I
can be,” Djokovic said. “I’m feeling very good and that has obviously positively reflected on my game today.”

Djokovic is chasing his second trophy at this ATP Masters 1000 event this week. Two years ago, he became the first singles player to complete the Career Golden Masters by winning the Western & Southern Open for the first time. If Djokovic lifts the title, he will equal Rafael Nadal’s record haul of 35 Masters 1000 crowns.

Djokovic improves to 3-0 in his ATP Head2Head series against Sandgren, with two of those wins coming at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. The Serbian also beat Sandgren in four sets en route to the 2018 US Open title.

The five-time year-end World No. 1 made a quick start on Grandstand, breaking Sandgren’s serve in the opening game by moving up the court and playing with consistent depth from the baseline to force errors. Djokovic dictated rallies with his backhand to claim a second break at 4-2, before holding serve for a one-set lead.

Djokovic used his backhand to attack Sandgren’s forehand and earn a third break of serve at the start of the second set. After failing to convert five match points at 5-3, Djokovic held serve to love with a forehand winner to confirm his place in the last eight.

Djokovic will face Jan-Lennard Struff for a semi-final spot in New York. The 33-year-old is unbeaten in three ATP Head2Head contests against Struff.

Jan-Lennard Struff” />

Struff broke new ground early Tuesday afternoon when the 30-year-old beat 2019 finalist David Goffin 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.

“It was a tough one, very close one again. The conditions were very hot again. Yesterday I thought it was a bit worse, the conditions, but David is a very tough player,” said Struff, who narrowed his ATP Head2Head deficit against the Belgian to 2-3. “I had some chances, he had some chances… the last game was really good.”

The German powered past the seventh seed in two hours and nine minutes with a devastating final game of all-out attack. Struff hit 35 winners, including a bludgeoned forehand return on his first match point. It is the World No. 34’s eighth Top 10 victory, with six of those coming since the start of last season. He has won seven of his past 15 matches against the elite group.

”I played some good tennis early on [against Top 10 players] as well, but I lost the matches most of the time,” Struff said. “That gave me a bit of experience how it is to be on court with them… I played good tennis [today] and I’m very happy to get another Top 10 win.”

Djokovic has only lost a set in five of his 20 matches this season. One of those was in the first round of the Australian Open against Struff.

“It will be very nice. I played him at the Australian Open, which was a very good match, I think, a very good match for me,” Struff said. “I would love to play him again.”