Before each day's play at Flushing Meadows, we'll preview and predict three must-see matches.
Gasquet leads their head to head 5-1, but Tomic won perhaps their biggest meeting, at Wimbledon in 2013. So far here, they’ve both been grinding through long, hot matches, and both could be a little gassed if this one goes long as well. Gasquet is ranked No. 12, and Tomic is 24, but Bernie may have a little momentum going after surviving five sets and two match points against his friend Lleyton Hewitt on Thursday—he usually loses matches like that one. Either way, this opening match on the Grandstand should be enjoyable for the quality of the ball-striking and the tactical pushes and pulls alone. Winner: Gasquet
Azarenka leads their head to head 4-0, and she won their last meeting, in Doha earlier this year, 6-0, 6-3. But when you mention these two, only one match comes to mind, the titanic three-setter they staged at the WTA Championships in Istanbul in 2012. Kerber won the first set 11-9 in a tiebreaker, but Azarenka hung in to take the next to, in similarly close fashion. The level of play never flagged.
Can we hope for something similar in this match, which will close the day session in Ashe? The match is a chance for each woman to prove something: for Azarenka, that she’s back, finally, in top form; for Kerber, that she can translate her success at smaller tournaments this season to the Grand Slam stage, something she has failed to do so far in 2015. Both players appear healthy, and neither has dropped a set. Winner: Azarenka
—Steve Tignor
What do we make of the Donald? Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised at his success so far: He’s played well in North America all year, and the 26-year-old remains a crowd favorite at the Open. This former prodigy’s career hasn’t gone to plan, but no one in New York seems to mind. Still, it was surprising to see Gilles Simon let him off the hook after dropping the first two sets. And in the second round, Young came from a set down to beat Aljaz Bedene.
Troicki, meanwhile, came into Flushing Meadows having lost six straight, but is now looking for his third straight win over an American. Aside from that summer slump, the Serb has quietly put together a good season. If Young can pull off another upset, the USTA might want to make room on Ashe for a likely fourth-rounder with Stan Wawrinka. Winner: Troicki
—Ed McGrogan