US Open Tennis 2017: TV Schedule, Picks for Tuesday Afternoon Draw

Rafael Nadal starts his run at the U.S. Open as the No. 1 seed.John Minchillo/Associated Press

Top-seeded Rafael Nadal and Karolina Pliskova will both play their first-round matches in the U.S. Open Tuesday, and both will be in action at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

After Venus Williams, Garbine Muguruza, Maria Sharpova, Marin Cilic and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga won first-round matches Monday, Nadal, Pliskova, Roger Federer and Angelique Kerber will try to match them on the second day of the tournament. Nadal, Pliskova and Kerber are scheduled to play day-time matches, while Federer will compete at night.

The Tennis Channel and the ESPN networks will provide wall-to-wall television coverage once again on the second day of the tournament. The Tennis Channel will have a preview program from 8 a.m. ET until 11 a.m. ESPN3 will follow with two hours of coverage from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m.

ESPN will take over at 1 p.m. and stay on the air until 11 p.m., and The Tennis Channel will provide a one-hour wrap-up show at 11 p.m.

Nadal is the top-ranked player on the ATP Tour in addition to the No. 1 seed on the men's side of the tournament. Nadal will face unseeded Dusan Lajovic of Serbia in the third match of the day at Ashe.

The Spaniard won the French Open earlier this season and has enjoyed a fine campaign after suffering through a series of injuries in recent years. The 31-year-old has won four tournaments this year and earned more that $7.5 million. He takes a 49-9 record this year into the U.S. Open.

Nadal is known as one of the game's great artists, as he typically works the ball around the court, figures out his opponent's weakness and then attacks that spot. He has won 55 percent of the second serves he has faced, and he has converted 45 percent of his break-point chances.

Dominic Thiem will depend on his serve at the U.S. Open.John Minchillo/Associated Press

Austrian Dominic Thiem, the sixth seed on the men's side, will play his first-round match against Alex de Minaur of Australia in the first match of the day scheduled for the Grandstand.

Thiem is the eighth-ranked player in the world, and he is having a productive year with a 41-19 record, one tournament victory under his belt and more than $2.8 million in earnings.

The 23-year-old is often dominant with his serve and has won 82 percent of his service games in his career, but he's only secured 23 percent of the games he has played while returning serve.

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Pliskova gets her tournament underway with the first match of the day at Ashe when she faces Magda Linette of Poland. 

The 25-year-old Czech star has been playing sensational tennis this year and will likely have a long run in New York. Pliskova has won three tournaments this year and has built a 42-12 record in singles matches. Pliskova has won more than $2.3 million this year.

Pliskova is not always on target with her first serve, as she has been accurate 58.4 percent of the time this year. However, she is quite effective overall with her serve, winning 78.6 percent of her service games during the season. She has also converted 44.2 percent of her break points throughout the tennis year.

After Pliskova and Linette finish their match, sixth-seeded Angelique Kerber of Germany and Naomi Osaka of Japan will play the second on Ashe.

The 29-year-old Kerber has had an up-and-down season, and she is still looking for her first tournament victory of the year. She brings a 29-17 match record into play at the U.S. Open, and she has won slightly more than $950,000 this season.

Kerber can have problems with her serving accuracy, as she has 143 double faults this year. She has won 71.2 percent of her service games during the season, but just 35 percent of her return games.

         

Predictions for Tuesday's notable daytime matches (Matches scheduled to start before 5 p.m.)

Karolina Pliskova (1) over Magda Linette
Angelique Kerber (6) over Naomi Osaka
Elina Svitolina (4) over Katerina Siniakova
Svetlana Kuznetsova (8) over Marketa Vondrousova
Eugenie Bouchard over Evgeniya Rodina
Agnieszka Radwanska (10) over Petra Martic
Rafael Nadal (1) over Dusan Lajovic
Juan Martin del Potro (24) over Henri Laaksonen
Dominic Thiem (6) over Alex de Minaur
Gael Monfils (18) over Jeremy Chardy
Ivo Karlovic over Bjorn Fratangelo
Fabio Fognini (22) over Stefano Travaglia