The Hindu : Sport : Rain causes finals to be put off by a day

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Rain causes finals to be put off by a day

Play had to be called off on Saturday, with Murray leading Nadal two sets to none, but a break down in the third

— PHOTO: AP

NO SHOW: After play was called off with the Nadal-Murray match intriguingly poised, the Louis Armstrong stadium presented a rather desolate picture on what was supposed to be Super Saturday at the U.S. Open.

NEW YORK: Serena Williams waited six years to return to the U.S. Open final. What’s another day?

The title match between two-time champion Williams and first-time Grand Slam finalist Jelena Jankovic was postponed from Saturday to Sunday because of heavy rain brought by Tropical Storm Hanna.

Williams vs. Jankovic originally was scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. (2300 GMT) on Saturday, but about 3 (hours) before that, organisers announced they were shifting it. Eventually, the tournament announced play will start at 9 p.m. Sunday.

The men’s final was rescheduled from Sunday afternoon to Monday evening (2100 GMT). It’s the first Monday final for the men at Flushing Meadows since 1987, when Ivan Lendl defeated Mats Wilander.

It will be Williams’ first U.S. Open final since 2002, when she beat older sister Venus.

“I don’t know if we’ll play tomorrow, but I’m ready to play tomorrow,” Williams said.

“Hopefully we can. If not, I’ll be ready for Sunday, Monday, Tuesday — doesn’t matter.”

She is seeded fourth, Jankovic second, and the winner is assured of moving up to No. 1 in the rankings.

Saturday’s rain also forced play to be called off in the men’s semifinal between No. 1 Rafael Nadal and No. 6 Andy Murray. That was slated to resume on Sunday, with Murray ahead 6-2, 7-6(5), 2-3.

Four-time defending champion Roger Federer did manage to finish his semifinal, which started earlier.

Roof will be built

Meanwhile, the organisers say that they are more committed than ever to putting a cover over Arthur Ashe Stadium to prevent future washouts at the tournament.

Tournament chief executive Arlen Kantarian said they just completed a third study on a new roof but declined to give details on what the cost would be or when the roof would be built.

“At this point it is a question of when and not if,” said Kantarian. “We believe this tournament has reached the point where we are looking seriously at putting a roof on the Arthur Ashe Stadium.”

He said they would take advantage of new technology in building materials to construct a lightweight see-through roof that would keep the players, officials and fans dry.

Asked if the roof would be ready by next year, Kantarian answered, “No.”

Jim Curley, U.S. Open tournament director, said they initially thought there might be a chance to play the matches one after the other on the Arthur Ashe court. But the situation changed after an update from their on-site weather forecasters and they scrambled to get Nadal and Murray onto the adjacent Louis Armstrong court.

Curley said starting both matches on different courts at 11 a.m. would not have been good for the fans.

“We had 23,000 people that wanted to see all four players,” Curley said. “If you split them, the fans are not going to get that opportunity.” — Agencies

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