ESPN 2, 11:00 a.m. ET
Last night, evening coverage of the U.S. Open third-round tennis matches shifted to ESPN2, where the network served up two thrilling matches back-to-back. The first showed Serena Williams, losing her first set against another American, the fiercely competitive Bethanie Mattek-Sands, and coming from behind to win the second before dominating with sheer will through the third. Williams’ quest for a victory at this tournament, sealing a calendar year Grand Slam, remains in reach. The second match featured another long-time champion, Rafael Nadal, who won his first two sets against Italy’s Fabio Fognini, who then mounted a comeback for the ages: winning sets three and four, then battling with Nadal, through a series of service breaks and unbelievably athletic and inspired tennis, before taking the fifth. For Nadal, it was the first time in his majors career that he had ever lost a match after winning the first two sets. The game didn’t end until 1:30 a.m. ET – and today, beginning at 11 a.m. ET, fourth-round action resumes, and is covered all day on ESPN2.
BBC America, 8:00 p.m. ET
Two more indispensable modern Doctor Who episodes are shown tonight, accompanied by behind-the-scenes info. The first is The Day of the Doctor, the show’s golden anniversary special. (Yes, Golden. Doctor Who premiered on the BBC the same week in 1963 as the JFK assassination.) Then, at 10 p.m. ET, comes The Name of the Doctor, a Matt Smith episode featuring the dangerous Whisper Men. The new season of Doctor Who begins in just a few weeks, and these episodes, and extras, serve as tantalizing appetizers. And Jenna-Louise Coleman, as the Doctor’s companion Clara, shines very, very brightly in these episodes.
HBO, 8:00 p.m. ET
This 2014 movie, based on the memoir by Cheryl Strayed, stars Reese Witherspoon as a woman who, with little to lose and nowhere to go, decides to embark on a solo hike across about 1,000 miles of Pacific Coast trails. This movie is the very visual, though not intensely satisfying, movie about her trek.
Showtime, 9:00 p.m. ET
It has to be an above-average character study for Bill Murray to agree to star – and he does just that in this 2014 movie, playing the seemingly irredeemable next-door neighbor of a young boy whose parents have just separated. Murray’s Vincent is hired to provide daytime supervision and “child care” – which means, in this case, trips to the track and to the bar. Murray’s co-stars include Melissa McCarthy, Naomi Watts, Chris O’Dowd and Terrence Howard, so expect the best, even if Vincent sounds like the worst…
ABC Family, 9:30 p.m. ET
This 2003 animated movie is a true treat for the entire family – and the leading vocal performances, by Albert Brooks and Ellen DeGeneres, as a fish looking for his missing son and a forgetful fish trying to help, are among the best in the history of animated movies.