Federer and Nadal back in US Open action on Saturday
Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal resume their US Open campaigns on Saturday, while the race to be women’s world number one is down to three players.
Top seed Nadal plays Argentina’s Leonardo Mayer in the third round on Arthur Ashe Stadium at about 20:00 BST.
Federer, seeded second, is up against Spain’s Feliciano Lopez in the night session at 00:00 on Sunday.
Karolina Pliskova must beat Shuai Zhang on Ashe at 13:00 on Saturday to hold on to her top ranking.
Ukraine’s fourth seed Elina Svitolina also has her sights set on the number one ranking, and she faces American Shelby Roger on Grandstand at about 21:00.
“This Grand Slam is a special one because everyone is fighting for the number one spot as well,” said Svitolina.
“Of course there will be expectations for all the top players. It’s quite normal to have this, and I would prefer to be on the top and have these kind of expectations than be somewhere out of the top 20.”
Spain’s Garbine Muguruza is the other woman in with a chance of topping the rankings at the end of the tournament, and the Wimbledon champion next plays on Sunday against Petra Kvitova.
Five-time champion Federer, 36, and two-time winner Nadal, 31, are still in line to meet in the semi-finals, although neither man has yet been at their best.
“I’m happy how I felt after the first round, because that was the scary bit,” Federer said on Thursday after his second five-set match in three days.
“But that’s passed now. Now I can just look forward to play tennis. With a bit of fatigue, that’s OK. I’ve done that hundreds of times.
“That’s not something I’m too concerned about.”