The 2017 Us Open main draw kicks off on Monday with Marin Cilic one of the headliners in the day of action from New York. It will be Cilic's first appearance in the main draw since losing in the Wimbledon final in July. Those looking for Roger Federer's and Rafael Nadal's match times will have to look to Tuesday as it's day two of the 2017 US Open when these top seeds will make their debuts in this year's tournament.
Nadal up before Federer on day 2
Nadal will conclude the morning/afternoon session from Arthur Ashe Stadium (schedules are subject to change).
He will face Dusan Lajovic of Serbia in a match that probably will not get too competitive. Lajovic doesn't have a significant result in a hard-court Grand Slam, and even at the French Open he only has one fourth-round appearance to his credit.
Nadal does have surprising losses in his result outings. However, Lajovic is a cut below the players that have beaten Nadal recently, namely Gilles Muller, Denis Shapovalov, and Nick Kyrgios. Nadal's first match at the 2017 US Open will be third up in Arthur Ashe Stadium behind matches involving Karolina Pliskova to open the court on Tuesday at 11 am ET and then Angelique Kerber (not before 1 pm ET).
Federer to close Arthur Ashe Stadium Tuesday
Roger Federer, the champion from Wimbledon, will be a part of the evening session on Tuesday.
He will face Frances Tiafoe in what isn't the best draw for the Swiss Maestro for a first-round match. Tiafoe is among a crop of young players looking to make names for themselves. The American will be the lesser talent in the match, but he may bring more energy if he's able to extend Federer deep. Tiafoe and Federer will conclude day two of action from Arthur Ashe Stadium.
They will follow the Madison Keys match against Elise Mertens on day two, a match that opens the evening session at 7 pm ET.
Federer and Nadal enter the tournament as the only representatives of the Big Four to contest this year's draw. Neither played well in the tournament last year, in fact, Federer did not play at all. The two players are in effective battling it out for the top spot in the world, both in the short term and the long term.
Presently Federer trails Nadal, but it's possible that the Swiss Maestro makes the deficit up in New York over the next two weeks. For certain, the US Open results will play a role in determining the year-end rankings. Other big names in men's singles on the order of play for Tuesday include Juan Martin del Potro, Kyrgios, Dominic Thiem, and Grigor Dimitrov.
