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Fri Sep 11, 2009 9:16 am EDT

Rain, rain go away: Friday at U.S. Open might be a washout

By Chris Chase

Update x2 (4:54 p.m. ET) -- The rain continues in New York. The USTA had hoped to start at 1:30 and then 2:30 and then 3:30 and then 4:30. Officials continue to insist that there will be a window in which to play tonight, but the forecast suggests otherwise. If play does resume today, all three matches will be played at the same time on Ashe, Armstrong and Grandstand courts.

Update (1:28 p.m. ET) -- A steady rain has delayed the start of the Serena Williams-Kim Clijsters match.

It was going to be like Super Saturday, in reverse. Two great women's matches and a men's match were on the U.S. Open schedule today after rain forced the postponement of last night's quarterfinal between Rafael Nadal and Fernando Gonzalez to this afternoon. But don't expect to see much, if any, tennis today.

The weather report for New York is good only for poncho salesman. Rain features heavily in the forecast through the afternoon, which has caused the USTA to already make contigency plans should no tennis get played.

Forecasts are exercises in guessing obviously tough to predict, so there's still a chance that we may see Serena and Rafa and Kim today. Don't count on it, though.

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36 Comments

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  1. RedSoxRule
    1. Posted by RedSoxRule Fri Sep 11, 2009 1:01 pm EDT

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    Good! I'm at work and don't want to miss out on the good matches here's to hoping they get pushed to the weekend!!!
  2. Kristoffer P
    2. Posted by Kristoffer P Fri Sep 11, 2009 1:37 pm EDT

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    Build a roof!
  3. Arnrock
    3. Posted by Arnrock Fri Sep 11, 2009 1:41 pm EDT

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    Good for us, but terrible for Nadal and/or Gonzalez. Unbelievable that broadcasting interests and ticket sales are put ahead of fairness toward the athletes. Everyone talks about promoting doubles. Put the doubles match featuring the Williams sisters on at 'prime time', and let the men's semi-finals be played during the day, when both are guaranteed to finish and both matches are relatively proximate to one another. I am no Nadal fan (and I'm not particularly fond of Gonzalez either) but if ever there is an asterix to be placed next to a win, it would be a Del Potro victory over either of these two in the semis.
  4. Puppy L
    4. Posted by Puppy L Fri Sep 11, 2009 1:45 pm EDT

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    Unbelievable that at this level, rain could potentially force Nadal to play 3 matches in 3 days. Isn't it bad enough they allow fans to casually walk in while a match is underway? No respect for the mindset or physical exertion of the athletes who allow these tournaments to make their money. Ah, yes, business as usual.
  5. chrisf
    5. Posted by chrisf Fri Sep 11, 2009 1:47 pm EDT

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    they should just build a roof, everyone's doing it. its very 2010 by the way to have a roof.
  6. heidi b
    6. Posted by heidi b Fri Sep 11, 2009 1:51 pm EDT

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    I agree with Kristoffer P, build a roof....heck....build a roof on all the big stadiums. That way, play is never interrupted like this. It is gonna suck for Nadal who I was rooting for. He will be too drained and injured to win. Go Clijsters! I dislike the stuck up, egotistical Williams sisters! When they lose, they blame everyone but themselves. But Serena is playing way too well to lose this event. Well, I was looking forward to watching some good tennis tonight.....guess that is not gonna happen! Bummer.
  7. Jennifer
    7. Posted by Jennifer Fri Sep 11, 2009 2:09 pm EDT

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    i agree. build a roof, or postpone the tournament schedule. dont give any player advantage over others.
  8. Caroline A
    8. Posted by Caroline A Fri Sep 11, 2009 2:17 pm EDT

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    to heidi b. i can agree that serene is egotistical. but venus, has always been classy and humble. Seren is cut from the same cloth as his father. venus is a different story. She is down to earth, always prim and proper and gracious.
  9. Curt
    9. Posted by Curt Fri Sep 11, 2009 2:21 pm EDT

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    Build a roof is right ! PTA moms for security, and no roof, time to step up to being a world class venue. Record attendance every year should mean a top notch venue that can plan around weather.
  10. LenoreJ
    10. Posted by LenoreJ Fri Sep 11, 2009 2:26 pm EDT

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    Serena and Venus never blamed anyone when they lose, stop the hating on the Williams' sisters already, it is getting old and ridiculous
  11. John
    11. Posted by John Fri Sep 11, 2009 2:32 pm EDT

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    USTA keep updating us with record breakers attendance this year. That mean the income from ticket sales and probably sponsors keep increasing. So they can definitely afford to build a roof. It will be fair to players and also make more people want to see the match here cause they know they can watch the matches (at Arthur Ashe stadium) without interuption of rain etc.
  12. hanumansrings
    12. Posted by hanumansrings Fri Sep 11, 2009 2:32 pm EDT

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    Arthur Ashe is the works stadium ever to watch tennis in live! Unless you are courtside you cant see anything! They need to cut out the whole top section and build a roof! Its 2010 even the cowboy's stadium has a roof!
  13. Duberry
    13. Posted by Duberry Fri Sep 11, 2009 3:19 pm EDT

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    Stretch a big tarp over it . Yeah, a tarp or whatnot. A blue one, so it looks like the sky.
    Sure, it'll fill up with rain water, so go green and recycle it. Thousands of gallons probably.
    Ship it to California, or better still, pipe it. Home Depot have six inch upvc pretty cheap.
    Maybe a few of us could get together and fix something up, make those Californians happy. Real happy. They love water, the ones at the beach do anyways I reckon.
    You know, surfing and whatnot.
    Thanks .
  14. dalaoshi
    14. Posted by dalaoshi Fri Sep 11, 2009 3:37 pm EDT

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    I have always believed that tennis should be an indoor sport like basketball or table tennis. Why make the pros fight the rain, wind, heat, and insects? I would rather see the outcome based on their skills. Also the players might last longer if their season was year round instead of cramming all the big tournaments into the summer. After all those years I played in Texas fighting 45 mph winds and slipping on ice and baking in the sun and humidity, my reward was skin cancer. The most fun I had was playing indoors in Salem, Or. The doctors told me to quit tennis, so I took up table tennis and found it was more interesting and more fun.
  15. miguel b
    15. Posted by miguel b Fri Sep 11, 2009 4:32 pm EDT

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    I hope it rains all day and all day tomorrow - if only because it will finally force the greedy corporate heads of the USTA to take into account the players a little more and the money a little less.
    Absolutely insane to play a 2 week grand slam and then play the semi finals and final within 24 hours for both the men (saturday night.and sunday afternoon) and the women ( friday night and saturday afternoon )
    They should hang their heads in shame for such outrageous organisation.
  16. JOE G
    16. Posted by JOE G Fri Sep 11, 2009 4:34 pm EDT

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    Re-name the Stadium Ashe-Jones, so Jerry will put a "Lid" on it! Maybe even put a huge screen in the middle
    of the court, with Jerry's picture shown at each 'cross-over'. They could also put a BIG STAR in the middle of the
    court, so they could call it "America's Court" !!! Even better, they could let Jerry coach the players, so they would
    not hit the screen on too high lobs.
  17. tell_it_to_dali_lama
    17. Posted by tell_it_to_dali_lama Fri Sep 11, 2009 4:44 pm EDT

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    Ah I see all the cry babies are out and posting. The weather is what it is. The top flight athlete can win no matter what the obstacle. Obviously you whiners and criers are already pumping up the excuses for your faves. So what the blankety blank else is new! Go home to mama and let her wipe your collective noses for you all! You are all breaking my little heart with your baitchin' and moanin'!
    Boo hoo, cry sob. Whine, sniffle, boo hoo. Whimper, sob.
  18. Anna
    18. Posted by Anna Fri Sep 11, 2009 4:44 pm EDT

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    I totally agree with you about the competitive advantage. It would make more sense to have all women's and men's quarterfinals played on their own days, because otherwise it's not fair to the players. I want all of them to play their best but when one guy gets 3 days rest and the other gets a few hours, how is that fair? I've been an avid fan of tennis for many years now, and I really hate the way ESPN is covering matches- personally I don't care about the Williams sisters in doubles. If you want to watch it go online and watch it at usopen.org, don't waste everyone's primetime experience with them playing second rate players. I would much rather prefer to watch the singles matches as they are happening instead of the 'greatest hits' snippets which they've shown for some of the matches.
  19. Anna
    19. Posted by Anna Fri Sep 11, 2009 4:45 pm EDT

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    I totally agree with you about the competitive advantage. It would make more sense to have all women's and men's quarterfinals played on their own days, because otherwise it's not fair to the players. I want all of them to play their best but when one guy gets 3 days rest and the other gets a few hours, how is that fair? I've been an avid fan of tennis for many years now, and I really hate the way ESPN is covering matches- personally I don't care about the Williams sisters in doubles. If you want to watch it go online and watch it at usopen.org, don't waste everyone's primetime experience with them playing second rate players. I would much rather prefer to watch the singles matches as they are happening instead of the 'greatest hits' snippets which they've shown for some of the matches.
  20. Arnrock
    20. Posted by Arnrock Fri Sep 11, 2009 5:14 pm EDT

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    Hey, tell_it_to_dali_lama... What everyone here is talking about is the disadvantage that these guys will face, as Del Potro will have had the benefit of considerably greater rest going into the semis. Your suggestion that a top flight athlete can win 'no matter what the obstacle' is shortsighted. First recognise that these are ALL top flight athletes, and that one will have had twice the recuperation time of the other, and you'll then see the skewed playing field.
    Oh, and there's just no need to post such personal attacks either. This is a tennis blog for goodness sake.
  21. Arnrock
    21. Posted by Arnrock Fri Sep 11, 2009 5:15 pm EDT

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    Hey, tell_it_to_dali_lama... What everyone here is talking about is the disadvantage that these guys will face, as Del Potro will have had the benefit of considerably greater rest going into the semis. Your suggestion that a top flight athlete can win 'no matter what the obstacle' is shortsighted. First recognise that these are ALL top flight athletes, and that one will have had twice the recuperation time of the other, and you'll then see the skewed playing field.
    Oh, and there's just no need to post such personal attacks either. This is a tennis blog for goodness sake.
  22. isabelle
    22. Posted by isabelle Fri Sep 11, 2009 5:46 pm EDT

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    chrisf, although I agree that they should be a roof. Not everybody is doing it. There is not even lights at the French open to talk about roof, lol. But yes, we need a roof at the US open. They should have included the roof when Ashe was built.
  23. Lantianbaixie
    23. Posted by Lantianbaixie Fri Sep 11, 2009 5:54 pm EDT

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    What the heck. Just take the stadiums down instead of building a roof. Virtual tennis game indoor all the time.
  24. jimewe
    24. Posted by jimewe Fri Sep 11, 2009 6:05 pm EDT

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    USOpen stiffs fans, by not honoring tickets of cancelled matches in final 3 days of tournament. $80-$300-400 a ticket, washed down the drain. Can't imagine any other sport ripping off its fans so totally. I'll never come again. Jim Ewe
  25. EM
    25. Posted by EM Fri Sep 11, 2009 6:06 pm EDT

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    Move us open to california where there is not much rain...

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