U.S. Open: What to watch on Day 5 – Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe face off

Follow live coverage of day five at the 2024 US Open

Day 5 of the U.S. Open begins the third round.

Americans Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe play the highlight match of the day at Arthur Ashe Stadium, with Coco Gauff also facing Ukrainian Elina Svitolina.

Here’s what to watch on the three show courts and around the grounds:

Arthur Ashe

Start time: Noon ET, 9 am PT
TV: ESPN, Tennis Channel

Elina Svitolina (27) vs. Coco Gauff (3)

Once Gauff figured out that Tatjana Maria’s slice couldn’t hurt her, their second-round match was done. After looking streaky in winning the first set, the American defending champion raced to victory, serving up a bagel 6-0 set in the second. Svitolina will provide a more conventional and sterner test.

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

A rerun of the fourth round last year, in which Shelton announced himself as the hottest property in American men’s tennis — by beating the man who had been on fire before him. “That wasn’t something I was pleased about by any means,” Tiafoe said this week. Shelton said he lives for matches like this, in stadiums like this, even though the widespread expectation that this match would headline the night session proved to be misplaced.

Alexei Popyrin (28) vs. Novak Djokovic (2)

A rerun of two Grand Slam matches earlier this year. Both ended as wins for Djokovic; both were more testing than the final scoreline would suggest. Popyrin, an Australian always blessed with a big first serve and devastating forehand, has added some solidity and craft to his tools in recent months, and he just won the Canadian Open. In so doing, he became the first Australian male player to win an ATP 1000 tennis tournament since Lleyton Hewitt in 2003.

Djokovic has looked uncomfortable for much of the first two rounds in New York, toiling past Laslo Djere in the second with the help of his opponent retiring due to injury. Popyrin will be more difficult still, but cooler conditions should help Djokovic.

Ekaterina Alexandrova (29) vs. Aryna Sabalenka (2)

Alexandrova showed commendable resolve to come through three sets against American 16-year-old Iva Jovic, but Sabalenka has won 13 sets in a row and loves hard-court tennis. Were Alexandrova to win this one, it would be the biggest upset of the women’s draw by some distance.

Louis Armstrong

Start time: 11 am ET, 8 am PT
TV: ESPN, Tennis Channel

Elena-Gabriela Ruse (Q) vs. Paula Badosa (26)

Emma Navarro (13) vs. Marta Kostyuk (19)

Kostyuk stayed cool in the heat and humidity Wednesday. On the face of it, beating Britain’s Harriet Dart in straight sets is a smooth win, but Kostyuk had to come through a 22-point tiebreak in the first set, having been down 5-3 in games before even getting to that point. Navarro, who is looking to break into the WTA top 10, had an easier ride, dropping just two games against Arantxa Rus. If Kostyuk arrives at a good level, this is likely to go the distance; their previous meeting, in Toronto, finished 7-5, 7-5 in Navarro’s favor.

Francisco Comesana vs. Taylor Fritz (12)

Madison Keys (14) vs. Elise Mertens (33)

Tomas Martin Etcheverry vs. Alexander Zverev (4)

Grandstand

Start time: 11 am ET, 8 am PT
TV: ESPN, Tennis Channel

Zheng Qinwen (7) vs. Jule Niemier

Victoria Azarenka (20) vs. Wang Yafan

Andrey Rublev (6) vs. Jiri Lehecka (32)

Casper Ruud (8) vs. Shang Juncheng

Ruud is a three-time Grand Slam finalist who doesn’t get talked about as a major contender all that much. He doesn’t seem to mind that. Ruud has caught some fire in recent days, winning a thrilling point on defense en route to victory against Gael Monfils, and even finding time to drop Andy Murray a little bit of love. “A tribute point to Andy Murray,” was how he described this effort.

He faces Shang, nicknamed Jerry, who has never been beyond the third round of a Grand Slam tournament. Will Ruud continue to renew his pedigree, or will Shang break new ground?

Stadium 17

Start time: 11 am ET, 8 am PT
TV: ESPN, Tennis Channel

Donna Vekic (24) vs. Peyton Stearns — not before 2 p.m. ET, 11 a.m. PT

Tallon Griekspoor vs. Grigor Dimitrov (9)

Brandon Nakashima vs. Lorenzo Musetti (18)

Don’t sleep on Nakashima, even though he tends to win matches by lulling opponents into thinking that they can sleep on him themselves. The American, who has topped serving performance stats at Wimbledon and now the U.S. Open, will be a tough test for Musetti, even as the Italian moves through the best season of his career. He thrives on natural surfaces and likes hard courts a little less, while Nakashima’s best win percentage is on the U.S. Open surface.

Required reading

(Top photo of Ben Shelton: Seth Wenig / Associated Press)