• New Exclusive Schedule Creates First-Ever All-ESPN Holiday Weekend
• ESPN2, ESPN3 from 11 a.m. ET – Last Ball on Saturday, Sunday & Monday
• Saturday on Ashe: Kvitova, Federer, Azarenka; Prime Time: Halep, Murray
• Serena, Survives a Scare, Faces Toughest Test Yet Sunday: 20-Year Old American No. 19 Keys
For the first time, fans can watch all the US Open tennis they want over the Labor Day weekend without changing channels – ESPN2 will start the day Friday-Monday at 11 a.m. ET and won’t go off the air until they turn off the lights on Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The bottom half of each draw plays Saturday (and winners play Labor Day Monday) – including Roger Federer, Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka plus Simona Halep and Victoria Azarenka; the top half of each draw – including Serena Williams and her quest for history, Novak Djokovic, Venus Williams, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and defending champion Marin Cilic will play Sunday. The quarterfinals will be contested Tuesday and Wednesday, the semifinals are scheduled for Thursday and Friday. ESPN’s extensive daily coverage will culminate with the Women’s Championship on Saturday, Sept. 12, and the Men’s Championship on Sunday, Sept. 13, both on ESPN.
In addition, each day ESPN3 will offer all day coverage with up to 11 courts plus a Spanish feed and a feed with three boxes – action from Ashe, Armstrong and Grandstand – to mobile devices and streaming on TVs.
Saturday’s third round matches on Arthur Ashe Stadium staring at 11 a.m.:
• No. 5 Petra Kvitova, two-time Wimbledon champ, vs. No. 32 Anna Karolina Schmiedlova
• (NB 1 p.m.) Five-time champion No. 2 Roger Federer vs. No. 29 Phillipp Kohlschreiber
• No. 11 Angelique Kerber vs. No. 20 Victoria Azarenka, the two-time Australian Open champ and two-time US Open finalist
• A prime-time doubleheader (NB 7 p.m.) – No. 2 Simona Halep vs. American Shelby Rogers, and No. 3 Andy Murray vs. No. 30 Thomaz Bellucci.
Action on Armstrong Stadium includes No. 13 John Isner, the 6’10” American, against Jiri Vesely and No. 5 Stan Wawrinka facing Ruben Bemelmans.
On Sunday, top seed and three-time defending champion Serena Williams – in step four of seven required to complete the sport’s first true (calendar year) Grand Slam since 1988 – plays No. 19 and Illinois native Madison Keys, just 20 years old. No. 1 Novak Djokovic will also take to the court, across from No. 23 Roberto Bautista Agut.
ESPN has televised the US Open since 2009. An 11-year agreement with the USTA for exclusivity was announced in May 2013. A complete look at ESPN’s plans for the 2015 US Open including the daily schedule ( http://es.pn/1ECwZws ), a look at new technology ( http://es.pn/1MzW0yM ) and a conference call on programming and production plans ( http://es.pn/1PoHn0D ).
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