US Open set for Monday finish after wash-out
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The rain just kept falling in Flushing Meadows on Friday, forcing US Open organisers to call it quits without a ball being hit and concede that the men’s final will not be played until at least Monday.
With Rafael Nadal and Fernando Gonzalez still waiting to finish their rain-suspended quarter-final match that began two days ago, there are effectively three rounds left in the men’s event.
Similar conditions saw the 2008 men’s final between Roger Federer and Andy Murray pushed to a Monday finish as Tropical Storm Hanna hit the US east coast, making it the first US Open since 1987 to enter a third week.
Nadal and Gonzalez are set to resume a tight match – the Spaniard leads 7-6(4) 6-6, 3-2 up in the tiebreak – after the first of the women’s semi-finals.
Caroline Wozniacki will face fellow 19-year-old Yanina Wickmayer first, before Serena Williams and Kim Clijsters complete the Saturday night session, with the women’s final due to be played on Sunday.
The players dealt with Friday’s prolonged delays in various ways. Wozniacki practised indoors, then stopped by the cafeteria, then wandered the hallways of the Arthur Ashe Stadium.
A relaxed Clijsters sat on the arm of a couch in the players’ lounge, and chatted with friends.
“That’s tennis. That’s life,” said the former champion. “It’s nothing new. I’d rather be waiting here than sitting at home.”
However, Saturday’s weather forecast for New York is no more encouraging, and, with more rain expected, the event could be knocked even further into a third week.
“There are some unknowns here,” USTA spokesman Chris Widmaier admitted.
British junior No.2 Laura Robson is set to get the action under way on court eight later today, taking on Lauren Davis of the USA in the quarter-finals of the girls’ singles.
They are followed on court by British No.1 Heather Watson, who faces second seed and 2009 Wimbledon girls’ singles champion Noppawan Lertcheewakarn of Thailand.
