Two days after recording the 10th comeback of his career from two sets down, Andy Murray will continue his US Open campaign on Thursday against one of the brightest emerging talents on the ATP Tour: Felix Auger-Aliassime.

In a battle of former junior US Open champions, 33-year-old Murray (2004) and 20-year-old Auger-Aliassime (2016) will meet for the first time during the night session on Arthur Ashe Stadium. Murray, who saved a match point in his Tuesday victory against Yoshihito Nishioka, is aiming to return to the third round in New York for the first time since 2016. The former World No. 1 owns a 3-1 record this year, having beaten World No. 7 Alexander Zverev en route to the Western & Southern Open Round of 16 last week.

“[Felix] hits a big ball. He moves well. I hit with him once only in Beijing last year… He’s getting up to the top of the game. I think he quite obviously likes playing on the hard courts. He’s had some struggles with his serve at times. That’s something that I’ll look to capitalise on,” said Murray.

“He’s a top, top young player. He’ll have an excellent, excellent career for sure. He’s been really good since he was very young. I think, physically, he’s a fantastic mover [and a] good athlete. He’s developed fast.”

Auger-Aliassime is hoping to build on his maiden US Open victory against Thiago Monteiro. The World No. 21 is looking to rediscover the fine form he showcased prior to the suspension of the ATP Tour, when he reached back-to-back ATP Tour finals at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam (l. to Monfils) and the Open 13 Provence in Marseille (l. to Tsitsipas). The Canadian owns a 15-10 record this year.

“[Andy] is a great champion,” said Auger-Aliassime. “I’ll be expecting the best from him next match… I’m going to prepare myself for a battle. I’m going to expect the best from him. Obviously, we’re all glad to see him back. I watched the whole way of his recovery. It’s good to see him playing good again and healthy. It’s an honour for me to face up with a guy like Andy.”

After playing only two sets in his opening match against Jaume Munar, Dominic Thiem will face Sumit Nagal of India for a spot in the third round. Following an opening-match loss to Filip Krajinovic at last week’s Western & Southern Open, the 2018 quarter-finalist’s victory against Munar was his first tour-level win since February. Nagal will not be intimidated by the occasion on Arthur Ashe Stadium. At last year’s US Open, the 23-year-old led Roger Federer by a set on the same court in the first round.

Daniil Medvedev will continue his quest for a first Grand Slam title against Christopher O’Connell of Australia. Medvedev is seeking his 10th US Open victory in just his fourth main draw appearance in New York. At last year’s event, the Russian beat 2016 champion Stan Wawrinka and Grigor Dimitrov to reach his first Grand Slam final. US Open debutant O’Connell, who earned a living cleaning boats for six months in 2018, earned his maiden Grand Slam victory in the first round against Laslo Djere.

On Court 12, Roberto Bautista Agut and Miomir Kecmanovic will meet for the second time in their ATP Head2Head series. Eighth seed Bautista Agut dropped only three games to beat the Serbian at the 2019 Western & Southern Open and enters their second meeting in top form. The Spaniard has won four of his five matches since the resumption of the ATP Tour, including his straight-sets victory against two-time Australian Open quarter-finalist Tennys Sandgren in the first round.

Western & Southern Open finalist Milos Raonic will face countryman Vasek Pospisil on Louis Armstrong Stadium. Raonic leads Pospisil 2-1 in their ATP Head2Head series and dropped just four first-serve points in his opening match against Leonardo Mayer. Pospisil won his most recent meeting against Raonic at the 2018 European Open and has already climbed 55 positions in the FedEx ATP Rankings this year.

Other notable matches include 2019 semi-finalist Matteo Berrettini’s meeting against Ugo Humbert, Alex de Minaur and Richard Gasquet’s Court 11 encounter and Frances Tiafoe’s clash against 2018 quarter-finalist John Millman.

ORDER OF PLAY – THURSDAY 3 SEPTEMBER 2020
ARTHUR ASHE STADIUM start 12:00 pm
WTA Match
Sumit Nagal v [2] Dominic Thiem

Not Before 7:00 pm
WTA Match
[15] Felix Auger-Aliassime v Andy Murray

LOUIS ARMSTRONG STADIUM start 11:00 am
WTA Match
Vasek Pospisil v [25] Milos Raonic
WTA Match
Christopher O’Connell v [3] Daniil Medvedev

Not Before 7:00 pm
WTA Match

COURT 17 start 11:00am
WTA Match
Gregoire Barrere v [10] Andrey Rublev
[6] Matteo Berrettini v Ugo Humbert
WTA Match

Click here to view the full US Open Day 4 schedule.

Brandon Nakashima won his first Grand Slam match on Monday at the US Open, defeating 38-year-old Paolo Lorenzi. The #NextGenATP American is only 19, but he is certainly dreaming big.

“I’ve always wanted to be No. 1 in the world and win a Grand Slam,” Nakashima said. “It’s just a matter of developing my game during this time and just trying to get more experiences like this under my belt and we’ll see how it goes from here.”

The No. 223 player in the FedEx ATP Rankings has been up close and personal with greatness. One of Nakashima’s coaches is 1987 Wimbledon champion Pat Cash. His other coach is Serbian Dusan Vemic, a longtime friend of World No. 1 Novak Djokovic. Nakashima warmed up Djokovic last week throughout his run to the Western & Southern Open title.

“He’s a good guy. He’s definitely funny at times, especially on the court when he’s not hitting. He’s always laughing, having a good time,” Nakashima said. “But when it comes to practising and hitting on the court, he’s definitely locked in, all down to business, so it’s great to see that.”

The teen says that after hitting with Djokovic for a couple of days he got comfortable enough to start asking questions. But his biggest takeaway from the sessions was simply rallying with the Serbian.

“I think it was just a matter of seeing how he hits the ball so effortlessly, how he gets such easy power,” Nakashima said. “[He’s] really smooth with all his strokes.”

The American’s Grand Slam debut came just one year after he competed in the boys’ singles event at Flushing Meadows, making the semi-finals.

“It definitely was a great feeling to get that win out there, even though it was on one of the outside courts with no fans there watching,” Nakashima said. “Nevertheless, it definitely was special. Getting that first win here was just great for my game.”

Cash On Nakashima: ‘I’m Very Impressed’

The straight-sets victory came against an opponent who entered the FedEx ATP Rankings more than two years before Nakashima was born. The Italian reached the fourth round of the 2017 US Open.

“I think he was serving really good. The return is pretty impressive. The backhand, too,” Lorenzi said. “I think he has a strong game and I think he can play really good in the future.”

Just more than six months ago, Nakashima made his ATP Tour debut at the Delray Beach Open by VITACOST.com. He wasted no time acclimating to the level, advancing to the quarter-finals with two Top 100 wins. Now he’ll face an even bigger test in the second round of the US Open, as the #NextGenATP star will play 2018 Nitto ATP Finals champion Alexander Zverev.

“I always thought that I had the right game to compete with all these top guys. It was just a matter of having the opportunities like in Delray Beach at the beginning of this year and eventually getting the wild card here,” Nakashima said. “I knew it was going to be tough no matter who I played here, but I always knew I had a good game to compete with these guys.”