US Open: Coco Gauff and Novak Djokovic continue their title defences on Friday, as Frances Tiafoe and Ben Shelton face off | Tennis News


Defending champions Coco Gauff and Novak Djokovic are back in action on Friday at the US Open, live on Sky Sports.

Gauff kicks off the action on Arthur Ashe Stadium from 5pm with her third-round match against 27th seed Elina Svitolina, a three-time Grand Slam semi-finalist – including at the US Open in 2019.

Djokovic, meanwhile, headlines the night session as he takes on Alexei Popyrin, the 28th seed from Australia, from midnight, with two-time Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka to follow when she faces Ekaterina Alexandrova, seeded 29th.

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Aryna Sabalenka meets her mini-me after defeating Lucia Bronzetti at the US Open

Earlier on Arthur Ashe, from approximately 7pm, there’s a mouth-watering all-American clash between Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe in a repeat of last year’s quarter-final which Shelton won.

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Tennis stars reveal their go-to tracks just before they walk on court at Flushing Meadows

Also in action on Friday is another US men’s hopeful in 13th seed Taylor Fritz, who faces Francisco Comesana from roughly 8pm on Louis Armstrong Stadium.

Earlier on that court, Marta Kostyuk – fresh from beating Britain’s Harriet Dart – takes on America’s Emma Navarro, while Paula Badosa and Elena-Gabriela Ruse, who knocked out Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova in the second round, kick off proceedings from 4pm.

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Marta Kostyuk and team fight off the New York heat in style with matching ice packs during the US Open match against Harriet Dart

In the evening session on Louis Armstrong, two former US Open finalists are in action as Madison Keys first faces Elise Mertens, before former men’s fourth seed Alexander Zverev goes against Tomas Martin Etcheverry.

Olympic gold medallist Qinwen Zheng, along with Andrey Rublev and Casper Ruud are some of the other big names featuring on Friday.

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Casper Ruud won this amazing rally in the tie-break to defeat Gael Monfils in US Open

Order of Play (all times UK – British players in bold)

Arthur Ashe Stadium

5pm

Elina Svitolina (Ukr) (27) vs Coco Gauff (USA) (3)

Ben Shelton (USA) (13) vs Frances Tiafoe (USA) (20)

12am

Alexei Popyrin (Aus) (28) vs Novak Djokovic (Srb) (2)

Ekaterina Alexandrova (Rus) (29) vs Aryna Sabalenka (Srb) (2)

Louis Armstrong Stadium

4pm

Elena-Gabriela Ruse (Rom) vs Paula Badosa (Esp) (26)

Emma Navarro (USA) (13) vs Marta Kostyuk (Ukr) (19)

Francisco Comesana (Arg) vs Taylor Fritz (USA) (12)

12am

Madison Keys (USA) (14) vs Elise Mertens (Rus) (33)

Tomas Martin Etcheverry (Arg) vs Alexander Zverev (Ger) (4)

Grandstand

4pm

Qinwen Zheng (Chn) (7) vs Jule Niemeier (Ger)

Victoria Azarenka (Blr) (20) vs Yafan Wang (Chn)

Andrey Rublev (Rus) (6) vs Jiri Lehecka (Cze) (32)

10pm

Casper Ruud (Nor) (8) vs Juncheng Shang (Chn)

Stadium 17

4pm

Doubles Match tbc

Donna Vekic (Cro) (24) vs Peyton Stearns (USA)

Tallon Griekspoor (Ned) vs Grigor Dimitrov (Bul) (9)

Brandon Nakashima (USA) vs Lorenzo Musetti (Ita) (18)

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