Before each day's play in Flushing Meadows, we'll preview and predict three must-see matches.
For the second time in three days, Fish faces a career-elimination match, this time against a seeded opponent in Lopez. Fish leads their head to head 5-3, and he won their last two matches on North American hard courts. But those came in 2011 and 2012, when Fish was at his best; now he’s having his last hurrah.
Like Fish, Lopez is 33, but he keeps soldiering on; he’s still in the Top 20, and two weeks ago in Cincinnati he played one of the best matches of his career to beat his friend Rafael Nadal. Theoretically, Fish should be helped by the home crowd, but they’re going to have to get out to Louis Armstrong Stadium early—for some reason, this one goes off at 11:00 A.M. The brain says Lopez will win, but the moment says that Fish could do something special. Winner: Fish
These two Americans have played just once, back in 2010, and Vandeweghe won in three sets. Each has had plenty of ups and downs, injuries and recoveries since then. Each makes the word “streaky” sound like an understatement. And each came up with some of her best tennis at Wimbledon this year. But Vandeweghe is seven years younger, ranked 56 spots higher, and has a bigger game. Winner: Vandeweghe
These two Americans have never played. Venus, at 35, is 10 years older; but at No. 23, she’s ranked 50 spots higher. It’s hard to know what you might get from her, physically, from day to day, but she’ll give it what she has, and the crowd will support her. Falconi has enough spirit to to make this a night match worthy of the term. Winner: V. Williams