U.S. Open 2018 Days 8-9 (Aug. 28-29) Preview: Matches, Start Times, Channel, Players To Watch

The U.S. Open is entering its second week, with the lat set of first-round matches scheduled for Tuesday.

U.S. Open Day 8 Preview

Rafael Nadal, who won this year’s French Open, is the defending champion. Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic took the other two Grand Slam tournaments this year: the Australian Open (in January) and Wimbledon, respectively.

This year’s U.S. Open will mark the final Grand Slam to count 32 seeds. Starting in 2019, the tournament will have just 16 seeds. Top-seeded Nadal and second-seeded Federer, who is now 37, are both considered favorites to win at Arthur Ashe this year. Djokovic is the sixth seed.

SLIDESHOW: 30 Best Sports Instagrams! 

Nadal and Djokovic are also coming off recent title victories at the Rogers Cup in Toronto and the Cincinnati Masters, respectively. Djokovic defeated Federer in straight sets in the final at Cincinnati. Among the other players who could advance to the late stages in this year’s U.S. Open are Andy Murray and 2016 champion Stan Wawrinka.  

Federer will next play 22-year-old Japanese competitor Yoshihito Nishioka on Tuesday at 7 p.m. EST, while Nadal will face Canadian Vasek Pospisil in the second round on Wednesday. Djokovic will play Hungarian Márton Fucsovics on Tuesday at 1:15 p.m. EST, while Murray will play No. 31-seed Spaniard Fernando Verdasco on Wednesday. Wawrinka will also play on Wednesday against 20-year-old Frenchman Ugo Humbert. 

On the women’s side, American youngster Sloane Stephens is the defending champion. This year, she is the third seed and will next face Ukraine’s Anhelina Kalinina in the second round on Wednesday after beating Russian Evgeniya Rodina 6-1, 7-5 on Monday. No. 17-seed Serena Williams crushed Polish 26-year-old Magda Linette 6-4, 6-0 on Monday and will next face 23-year-old German Carina Witthöft on Wednesday.

30 SPORTS FIGURES WHO DIED IN 2018 – TRIBUTE SLIDESHOW

The women’s top seed this year, Romanian 26-year-old Simona Halep, crashed out of the U.S. Open on Monday after losing 2-6, 4-6 to unseeded Estonian Kaia Kanepi. 

All main-court games will air on ESPN and ESPN2, although some matches will air on ESPN+, the network’s new subscription-based streaming service.

Here is the full schedule for the tournament, which ends Sept. 9:

Date	Round	Start	End	Channel
Mon, Aug. 27	First	Noon	11 p.m.	ESPN, ESPN2
Tue, Aug. 28	First	Noon	11 p.m.	ESPN
Wed, Aug. 29	Second	Noon	11 p.m.	ESPN
Thu, Aug. 30	Second	Noon	11 p.m.	ESPN, ESPN2
Fri, Aug. 31	Third	Noon	11 p.m.	ESPN, ESPN2
Sat, Sep. 1	Third	Noon	11 p.m.	ESPN2
Sun, Sep. 2	Round of 16	Noon	11 p.m.	ESPN, ESPN2
Mon, Sep. 3	Round of 16	Noon	11 p.m.	ESPN2
Tue, Sep. 4	Quarterfinals	Noon	11 p.m.	ESPN
Wed, Sep. 5	Quarterfinals	Noon	11 p.m.	ESPN
Thu, Sep. 6	Women’s Semifinals	Noon	11 p.m.	ESPN
Fri, Sep, 7	Men’s Semifinals	Noon	11 p.m.	ESPN
Sat, Sep. 8	Women’s Final	Noon	11 p.m.	ESPN
Sun, Sep. 9	Men’s Final	Noon	11 p.m.	ESPN

Source: sbnation.com.