Flushing Meadows was hit by a day of rain
Tuesday in New York
Lashings of Tropical Storm Lee meant there was no play at all yesterday in New York…
Wimbledon weather
Earthquake, hurricane, plague, and then…torrential rain. Flushing Meadows has not been treated kindly by the weather gods. There was not a ball hit in anger in Queens yesterday as the rain fell from noon till night. There had been rumours of a dry patch between 2 and 4pm in the afternoon, but it was not to be.
So the locker rooms of the Billie Jean King tennis centre took on a distinctly Wimbledon-esque hue, players huddled around their iPads, plugged into their iPods, or, if you're Boris Becker, reminiscing about chess and backgammon.
Thankfully though, the powers that be recognised early on that the deluge wasn't going to stop, and called a halt to the waiting sooner rather than later, allowing players to either get on with indoor practice, gym work, or simply sleeping, rather than worrying about if they'd be getting on court or not.
To roof or not to roof?
The abysmal weather, for the third year running, yet again raises the hydra of whether the USTA should follow the lead of the Australian Open, Wimbledon, and the French Open (it's on the way, apparently), and build a roof.
For, as picked up on by tennis journalist Simon Cambers, somewhat astonishingly, the USTA's wet weather policy does not even allow for refunds, frankly extraordinary at a tournament that has seen at least a day washed out or interrupted by rain at least once a year for the past three years.
That's an easy fix. What is not so easy, is the roof. Quite why the USTA did not incorporate a roof into the design of the $254 million Arthur Ashe stadium when it was opened in 1997, is as befuddling as why there are no covers for the courts. After all, Rod Laver Arena was built in 1988, and they managed to think about the rain.
The trouble is now, there are all sorts of technical structural reasons why Flushing Meadows is destined to remain roofless for quite some time. Here's why:
1. To put a roof over the 21,500 seats on Ashe would not only be prohibitively expensive, it's also apparently structurally impossible. Without dismantling half of it, that is.
2. To put a smaller, cheaper roof on either Louis Armstrong or Grandstand is possible, but, according to Jon Wertheim, the ground beneath these two stadiums is too soggy to support the construction effort that adding a roof would entail.
3. To build a new court with a roof. Also possible, but would involve tearing down Armstrong and Grandstand to find the space, and, more importantly, where is the money going to come from?
So all in all, it seems like we're stuck with the rain delays, the towels and the mops.
When a joke can go badly wrong
There has been a very mixed reaction to Caroline Wozniacki's re-enactment of Rafael Nadal's painful press conference cramp attack. Some fans reckon it was a perfectly harmless joke, nothing personal, just the bubbly blonde's way of having fun. She was apparently chivvied along by some of the press, and was just messing around.
But others have banged their heads on the table to work out what on earth she was thinking. Imitating someone else's pain is never going to be funny. Surely. Especially Rafa, who 1. was extremely embarrassed about the whole incident, and 2. very definitely does not like being imitated.
Caro later tweeted a sort of apology/clarification: @CaroWozniacki: Had a bit of fun last night b4 my press conference.Hope it was not taken the wrong way. I have the upmost respect and admiration of Rafa!!!!
Fair dos. So…bad move or harmless move? Have a watch of Wozniacki in action, and let us know what you think.
Some indoor tennis to look forward to…
GB captain Leon Smith yesterday announced his squad to face Hungary next week. There are still tickets available!
Coming up this evening
A schedule absolutely chockablock has seen Andy Roddick relegated to Louis Armstrong, and Andy Murray shunted over to Grandstand. Apparently Rafa put up a fight to stay on Ashe.
The weather forecast is one of intermittent drizzle, so expect there to be more than a few stops and starts.
ARTHUR ASHE – Day
Rafael Nadal v Gilles Muller
Novak Djokovic v Janko Tipsarevic
Both foregone conclusions. Maybe?
Night
Serena Williams v Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
Will Pavs get stage-fright against the big W?
Roger Federer v Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
The last two have gone Jo-Willy's way…
LOUIS ARMSTRONG
David Ferrer v Andy Roddick
It is a truth universally acknowledged that Daveeed is absolutely the last player you want to play if you're not feeling physically tip top. It's exhausting just thinking about it. So Roddick needs to be very much on strike if he is going to compete from the baseline.
Sam Stosur v Vera Zvonareva
Just how in the zone is Vera? She took care of Sabine Lisicki in an awesome display, but are the marbles upstairs sufficiently aligned to withstand Stosur's variety, and, crucially, confidence? Plus, it's her birthday.
Caroline Wozniacki v Andrea Petkovic
The wall versus the machine. Could be interesting. Can Petko stay error-free enough to break down Wozza's barriers?
GRANDSTAND
Andy Murray v Donald Young
Delayed for a day, this much-anticipated clash is going to be a) very loud, and b) hopefully nothing like their previous and only meeting in Indian Wells. Muzza is well aware of what makes D-Young tick now, and bar the partisan crowd messing with Murray's concentration, it should not be too much of a bother.
John Isner v Gilles Simon
Little and large? Power v poise? Something like that. How well Simon can get under Isner's skin and force the errors will be vital. But big John has been playing verrry well of late, so it is a big ask.
Anqelique Kerber v Flavia Pennetta
The one no one's quite sure about. Forza Flavia, I'd say.
Also in action
British duo Colin Fleming and Ross Hutchins aim to make their first Grand Slam semi-final, while the four British boys aim to keep up their four out of four record. Props to Liam Broady for his wet weather gear.
The daily click
Former world No 1 Dinara Safina is taking hairdressing lessons.
And, more of SI Beyond the Baseline's brilliant photo captions.
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