A quick scheduling note as we wait for Ashe to open for the night session. Thursday’s preliminary order of play is out and the times for the women’s semi-final double-header have been set. No 5 Elina Svitolina will meet No 8 Serena Williams at 7pm local time on Ashe, followed by No 13 Belinda Bencic and either Andreescu or Mertens.
Preamble
Hello and welcome to Arthur Ashe Stadium for tonight’s US Open quarter-final doubleheader. We’ve got a pair of delicious matches in store with Canada’s Bianca Andreescu facing Belgium’s Elise Mertens and Spain’s Rafael Nadal meeting Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman, both for places in the semi-finals later this week.
We may have a bit of a delayed start for tonight’s women’s opener as the third men’s quarter-final between Mattero Berrettini and Gael Monfils has only just ended on Ashe with the 24th-seeded Berrettini winning 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (5) in a thriller that lasted nearly four hours. The day session crowd will need to exit the main show court before the night session mass is admitted and the players are called on court.
Plenty to come between now and then. Thanks for following along with us.