US Open 2018: Roger Federer leads former champions in action on day four

Four former champions feature on Arthur Ashe Stadium on day four

Former champions Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Maria Sharapova and Angelique Kerber will be in second-round action on day four of the US Open.

Five-time winner Federer, 37, plays France's Benoit Paire on Arthur Ashe Stadium, after fourth seed Kerber's match against Sweden's Johanna Larsson.

Djokovic and Sharapova play in the night session on Ashe, from 00:00 BST.

The Serb, a two-time champion, faces American Tennys Sandgren, while 2006 winner Sharapova plays Sorana Cirstea.

Second seed Caroline Wozniacki is another player with experience of reaching the final at Flushing Meadows, twice finishing as a runner-up.

The second seed, who said she kept cool by pretending to be "on the beach with a margarita in hand" after seeing off Sam Stosur in the first round, faces Ukraine's Lesia Tsurenko last on the Louis Armstrong Stadium.

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Federer eyes Sampras record

Federer, playing in the US Open main draw for the 18th time, is bidding for an eighth men's final in New York - which would equal the record set by Pete Sampras and Ivan Lendl.

The Swiss dominated the tournament between 2004 and 2009, winning 41 successive matches before losing to Argentina's Juan Martin del Potro in the final nine years ago.

Since then he has only reached one final - when he lost to Djokovic in 2015 - and says claiming the US Open trophy again this year is a "bigger priority".

The second seed could meet Australia's Nick Kyrgios in the third round, should the 23-year-old beat Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert on Thursday.

Elsewhere in the men's draw, France's Gael Monfils and Japan's Kei Nishikori meet in one of the second round's highest-profile matches, while German fourth seed Alexander Zverev takes on another Frenchman in Nicolas Mahut.

Meanwhile, five-time Grand Slam winner Sharapova returned to major competition after her 15-month ban at the US Open last year, when she reached the fourth round.

Should the Russian 22nd seed overcome Romania's Cirstea, she faces a potential third-round meeting with Latvian 10th seed Jelena Ostapenko, who plays American Taylor Townsend.

Fifth seed Petra Kvitova, sixth seed Caroline Garcia and 2017 runner-up Madison Keys will also be looking to make the third round.