Skip to main content

Three Things To Watch: Day 2

Kimiko Date Krumm

The ageless Kimiko Date Krumm defeated Dinara Safina in the first round of the French Open earlier this year. (Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)

SI.com's daily menu of must-see happenings at the U.S. Open (all times Eastern).

Svetlana Kuznetsova vs. Kimiko Date Krumm (Grandstand, 11 a.m.): Sveta is one of just four players in the women's draw with a U.S. Open championship on her resume -- she bagged the '04 title -- but a string of inconsistent results keeps her off the short list of this year's favorites. Krumm, who turns 40 (!) next month, was a quarterfinalist here in 1993 and '94 but is making her first appearance in the main draw since '96. Last month, she became the oldest woman since Billie Jean King in March 1984 to rank in the Top 50. She could become the third-oldest woman to win a match here in the Open Era.

Kristof Vliegen vs. James Blake (Louis Armstrong Stadium, third match): Blake packed Armstrong for a 2001 thriller with Lleyton Hewitt and delivered one of the tournament's all-time great matches opposite Andre Agassi in the '05 quarters. He reached No. 4 the next year and passed Andy Roddick in the rankings. But the Fairfield, Conn., native is 30 years old, out of the Top 100 and without a tournament win since New Haven in '07. He needed a wild-card invite to get into the U.S. Open and faces the prospect of a third-down match with Novak Djokovic if he makes it that far. Today may be your last chance to get rowdy with the J-Block at the U.S. Open. If you're going, don't miss it.

Coco Vandeweghe vs. Sabine Lisicki (Grandstand, fourth match): The 18-year-old niece of two-time NBA All-Star Kiki Vandeweghe is one of the game's more promising young talents, a ferocious ball-striker who bagged her first scalp of a Top 10 opponent earlier this month against Vera Zvonareva in San Diego. Lisicki, 20, is a plucky German whose athleticism belies her modest 5-foot-10 frame. She's struggled with an ankle injury in 2010 after last year's breakthrough run to the Wimbledon quarters and career-high ranking of No. 22.

Others to watch: