Nadal furious at being sent on court in rain

Live Tennis Staff - 8 Sep 2011
Rafael Nadal was livid with the tournament referee at being sent on for his US Open fourth round match against Gilles Muller while it was still raining.

There was still light drizzle in the air as Nadal and Muller were sent on to start their last sixteen clash before heavier rain forced them off after barely 20 minutes of action. Nadal blatantly did not want to be out there in the slippy conditions and some sharp form early on from Muller did not help his mood as the Luxembourg player shot off to a 3-0 lead.

"Grand Slams is about a lot of money. We're part of the show. They're just working for that, not for us. They know it's still raining and call us onto the court. That's not possible," Nadal ranted.

"I understand the fans want to see tennis but the health of the players is the most important and we do not feel protected. We want to feel good when we are playing a tournament and we cannot accept these things. We have to fight to change things, to have enough power that we don't have to go on court when it's raining. If I have to go on court, I'll go on court, but I don't think it's fair."

Nadal, Andy Murray and Andy Roddick immediately headed to the tournament office once play was suspended to voice their concerns.

The poor weather and generally bizarre scheduling in New York has led to a huge backlog of matches with play set to continue into next week.

Do not count on this being the last drama concerning the tournament's decisions before the 2011 US Open ends.

Novak Djokovic urges US Open to build show-court roofs

Live Tennis Staff - 8 Sep 2011
Novak Djokovic is hoping the US Open will finally see sense and construct roofs over the show courts after rain disrupted the schedules for the third year in succession.

The tournament has been postponed until a third Monday for the past two years and that seems almost a certainty this year thanks to the heavy showers which have wiped out play over the past couple of days.

Despite it's status as one of the top four events in tennis, the US Open's provisions for dealing with rain are archaic for the 21st century with no covers and officials having to wipe the cement surface dry with hand towels.

Djokovic has been left waiting until Thursday to play his quarter-final match with Janko Tipsarevic and the world number one is desperately hoping the tournament will follow suit with the rest of the majors in constructing a roof.

"It's been like this in New York for the last couple of years. It's been happening more often than we expect it to so maybe this tournament should consider a roof in the future,'' he told ESPN.

The two-time finalist will be pleased to hear that plans are currently being made to remodel both Arthur Ashe and Louis Armstrong stadium with retractable roofs. Arthur Ashe will be made much smaller to accommodate this as putting a roof on the current towering stadium presents an engineering and financial nightmare.

Murray admits he may face impossible US Open task

Live Tennis Staff - 8 Sep 2011
Andy Murray admitted he has been left with an uphill battle as rain continues to play havoc with the schedule on day ten of the US Open.

Murray is still waiting to complete his fourth round match against Donald Young and faces a possible four best of five sets matches in four days although the men's final will almost certainly get moved to a third Monday.

"It's incredibly difficult anyway with the guys who are at the top of the game but there's not a whole lot we can do," Murray said.

"The days are quite draining. Today, for example, we were told 4.30pm [to play] so we were warming for 4.30pm, then it was 4.45pm, and it's every 15 minutes until 5.30pm. So we're warming up, warming up and they're putting it back, putting it back, and then we get cancelled at 5.45pm. So that whole hour - getting in the right frame of mind, warming up, adrenaline going - it's tough."

Murray managed to play just three games against Young before rain hit Flushing Meadows again with the American leading 2-1 on serve. However the fourth seed was furious that they had even been asked to take to the courts with parts of the surface still very damp.

"It was still raining when we went out and you can't play on a hard court when it's raining because the lines are so slippy," he said. "They had towels along the back of the court, it was still soaking wet and the balls were going into puddles. The referee said it wasn't in play but if you chase down a lob or you're pushed back, it is in play. They [referees] stand on the court and say it looks alright, but if you try moving at the speed we're moving at and changing direction, it's completely different. It just didn't make sense."

Serena Williams v Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova U.S Open

Live Tennis Staff - 6 Sep 2011
Serena Williams will continue her U.S Open title charge on Wednesday with a quarter-final showdown against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova

Serena Williams still hasn’t lost a set in this year’s U.S Open, raising questions about the decision to make her the 28th seed in the draw at Flushing Meadows. The former world No. 1 entered this competition in terrific form, showing plenty of slam-winning form, and winning two WTA titles in recent weeks.

She booked her place in the last eight by defeating another former rankings topper, Ana Ivanovic. Ivanovic wasn’t completely outclassed by Williams in the fourth round, but she wasn’t able to do much to prevent her straight sets loss (6-3, 6-4). Eight double faults held the Serb back, and the fact that she hit more winners than Williams wasn’t enough to enable her to upset the odds.

Williams will now take on Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova on Wednesday in the quarter-finals. Pavlyuchenkova should be in good spirits after recording a superb 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 success against Francesca Schiavone in round four, but she’ll need to maintain this level of play to test Williams, who is arguably the tournament favourite. It will be fascinating to see how this contest pans out.

Novak Djokovic v Janko Tipsarevic - US Open 2011 live

Live Tennis Staff - 6 Sep 2011
There's a guaranteed Serbian semi-finalist at the US Open as Novak Djokovic takes on Janko Tipsarevic.

Djokovic missed six set points but he eventually got past Alexandr Dolgopolov 7-6, 6-4, 6-2 after a marathon opening set which went all the way to 16-14. It's the closest Djokovic has come to dropping a set at this tournament and now he has the admittedly strange experience of taking on close friend and Davis Cup team-mate Tipsarevic.

"We are professionals," Djokovic told the media. "Certainly we both want to win the match when we play against each other.  So you kind of forget about friendship.  You put that aside.  You know, we never played Grand Slam, though.  We never played best of five against each other, so it's going to be a first time experience for both of us.  I think it's his first quarter-finals ever in Grand Slam.  He's playing the best tennis of his life.  He's very confident.  But there is certainly this mentally strange feeling when you're playing somebody that is one of your best friends in the private life, as well.  So you got to handle that, as well."

Djokovic has won both their past matches but Tipsarevic has given him his fair share of problems, pushing him to three sets on the grass of Queens in 2008 and in Belgrade a year later. However that was two years ago and Djokovic is a vastly improved player now compared to then. He's had few problems when playing Viktor Troicki this year, handing out several one-sided beatings.

"We were supposed to play semis in Belgrade, but because of injury I didn't go on court," Tipsarevic said. "I remember that the longer the match was progressing that he was playing much better.  I'm not saying I'm gonna try and keep it short because it's obviously impossible, but, you know, I remember in both matches that I started really well and then I kind of backed  --  went back like for a few meters, and then it's just not the way.  You really need to go for your shots and use the opportunities that you have if you want to have a chance against this guy."

It's been one of the best tournaments of Tipsarevic's career. He's taken out Tomas Berdych and Juan Carlos Ferrero but even his most fanatical fans will have to admit he has fairly little chance in this one given how the top seed is playing.