Rain check for US Open final

Written by: Staff on 12th September 2010

Rain check for US Open final |

The US Open will have a Monday final for the third year in succession after rain washed out the scheduled men’s title showdown between Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.

After persistent rain interrupted the women’s doubles final, play was eventually called off for the day just after 6pm local time, when organisers decided that they had no alternative but to send players and more than 24,000 fans home disappointed. Play will resume on Monday at 3pm local time, starting with the unfinished women’s doubles final between Liezel Huber and Nadia Petrova and Vania King and Yaroslava Shvedova (Huber and Petrova lead 6-2, 4-6, 5-4) before Nadal and Djokovic start not before 4pm (all times local).

Toni Nadal, the player’s coach and uncle, had earlier revealed that the top seed had spent much of his time watching golf on television in the locker room while many of the other inhabitants of the Billie Jean King National Tennis Centre were glued to the Weather Channel in the hope of a finding a more optimistic forecast. None came.

Djokovic and his team were probably happier than anyone else to see the first sustained rainfall of the tournament, for the Serbian had endured five long sets against Roger Federer in Saturday’s second semi-final and will now get an extra day of unscheduled rest. The US Open is the only one of the four grand slams to schedule men’s best—of-five set semis and final on consecutive days, though the inclement weather of recent years means that no men have had to play back-to-back singles matches over the last weekend since 2007.

Unlike the Australian Open and Wimbledon, the US Open has no roof over its main court, the Arthur Ashe Stadium, and is therefore at the mercy of the storms which often skirt the East coast of the US during hurricane season. The French Tennis Federation has previously indicated an intention to build a new roofed stadium at Roland Garros, where the clay courts are covered with tarpaulins during rain breaks. The US Open has no temporary covers and dries its courts using blowers, squeegee mops and handheld towels.

Click here for the full Monday schedule.

Topics: Arthur Ashe, Arthur Ashe Stadium, Billie Jean King, French Tennis Federation, Grand Slams, Hurricane Season, Inclement Weather, Liezel Huber, Nadia Petrova, National Tennis Centre, Novak Djokovic, Persistent Rain, Rain Check, Roger Federer, Roland Garros, Title Showdown, Vania King, Watching Golf, Weather Channel, Yaroslava Shvedova