Saturday’s Night Session Canceled at US Open

Ernesto left his mark on the grounds of the US Open today as both session were completely washed out. A few players were able to actually able to warm-up for their matches, and a few others braved the practice courts in the rain, but not one match was finished on the grounds.

Sitting in a rain delay in the media center at a Grand Slam is much different than waiting for the showers to finally slack off at Wimbledon so that ESPN2’s coverage can continue. I spent the day working on my Aravane Rezai article, as well as doing research for a story on the racquet stringers and their best customers on the women’s side of the tour. Every so often, I would get up, leave the warm and dry media center, and venture out to Arthur Ashe or Louis Armstrong in hopes of seeing the courts being dried.

The rain delay was even harder on the players, especially those that were scheduled to play first on the main courts. Maria Sharapova spent the majority of the day waiting for her match to finally start, but each time they were ready to move her out of the tunnel, rain would start to fall yet again. A couple of the players even ventured out of the locker rooms and took advantage of chances to practice in the light drizzle.

The people that truly deserve to be commended were the fans that waited all day to see matches that never even started. If the rain was not bad enough, the wind and temperature combined to make for a long, cold, day at the Billie Jean King Tennis Center. When I left the grounds at 6:00PM, just prior to the canceling of the evening session, I was surprised to see so many people still hanging around in hopes of seeing their favorite players finally play. Thankfully, it looks like Ernesto is finally starting to leave the area, and Sunday has some great matches that will definitely be worth the wait.

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