FLUSHING MEADOWS, N.Y. — Rafa Nadal spent his day playing fooseball. CBS reran the McEenroe-Nastase implosion of ’79, when Nasty worked umpire Frank Hammond and the Heinekenized New York crowd and was defaulted (only to be reinstated). A global mélange of sportswriters (this one included) tried their hand at meteorology (not very successfully), while not so quietly wondering why a retractable roof wasn’t among the blueprints when the cavernous Arthur Ashe Stadium first rose into the Queens sky.
And still the rain fell.
A frantic army of squeegee-pushers ran back and forth across the courts, only to have their efforts nullified. Serena Williams and Kim Clijsters, scheduled to take the court for their semifinal at 12:30 p.m. and having spent most of the afternoon in a holding pattern, were told to head back into Manhattan. Eventually, around 6 p.m., Rafa and Gonzo left, too. The matches would now be played on Saturday (weather permitting). USTA officials saw dollar signs heading down the drain, along with all that rain. And it was soon clear (unlike the skies) that — for the second straight year — the U.S. Open would be pushed into Monday (or beyond).
Poor Chris Widmaier. The USTA’s PR point-man was soon engulfed by reporters, who gathered around to get the scoop.
“I greatly appreciate everyone’s patience today,” said Widmaier, thrown into the role of apologist for Mother Nature. “This type of weather isn’t even showing up on the radar. If you look on the radar right now, it looks like it’s clear. But it’s not. It’s such a light mist that the radar can’t even pick it up.”
As it stands, the continuation of the Nadal vs. Gonzalez match will be first on Saturday, most likely at noon. The quarterfinal began on Thursday night – Nadal took the first set 7-6(4) and led 3-2 in a second-set tiebreak – but was postponed due to rain. Also scheduled are the men’s doubles final between Dlouhy/Paes and Bhupathi/Knowles, the Wozniacki-Wickmayer semi and (not before 8 p.m.) the Williams-Clijsters semi.
