All play postponed by rain Friday at US Open; singles finals pushed back

No play at US Open because of rain

NEW YORK — Serena Williams handed out lollipops as she walked through a tunnel at Arthur Ashe Stadium. Rafael Nadal peered outside at the blankets of rain while he strolled through a hallway outside the players’ cafeteria. Kim Clijsters chatted with friends to pass the time.

Tennis, though, was not in the cards Friday, when more showers washed away the U.S. Open and jumbled its schedule for the second consecutive year.

With storms again in the forecast for Saturday, tournament officials tried for hours to play the women’s semifinals — Williams vs. Clijsters, and Yanina Wickmayer vs. Caroline Wozniacki — and the suspended men’s quarterfinal between Nadal and Fernando Gonzalez.

A steady rain thwarted their hopes, and led to a slew of contingency plans.

“They canceled my match for today! U all have to wait until tomorrow!! (I have to wait too) I love u all for sticking around to watch!! Xxx S,” Williams wrote on her Twitter feed.

Saturday’s schedule calls for Nadal-Gonzalez to begin at noon, followed by Wozniacki-Wickmayer, and Williams-Clijsters to start after 8 p.m.

Assuming the women’s semifinals can be completed Saturday, that final will be moved to Sunday. Organizers were still trying to iron out all the details, including determining where matches will be aired on TV.

“There are some unknowns here,” U.S. Tennis Association spokesman Chris Widmaier said.

If Nadal-Gonzalez finishes Saturday, the men’s semifinals will be Sunday. The Nadal-Gonzalez winner meets No. 6-seeded Juan Martin del Potro, and five-time defending champion Roger Federer faces No. 4 Novak Djokovic.

The men’s final then would be moved from Sunday to Monday. Last year, the U.S. Open men’s final was played on a Monday for the first time since 1987.

Tournament officials kept Nadal and Gonzalez in Queens after they called off the women’s semis, hoping to at least complete their match suspended Thursday night with Nadal up a set and leading 3-2 in the second-set tiebreaker.

But the mix of showers and mist soaked the grounds, leading to the postponement.

Also delayed: the women’s match featuring defending champion Williams and 2005 champion Clijsters, and the other semi between a pair of 19-year-olds never before this far at a Grand Slam tournament, Wozniacki and Wickmayer.

There is no roof on any court used for the tournament at Flushing Meadows, although studies have been done to check on the feasibility of adding one to Arthur Ashe Stadium. There is a new $60 million indoor facility on the grounds, but that is used only for practice during the tournament.

Wimbledon put a retractable roof over Centre Court for this year’s tournament — when the weather was so nice, only parts of two matches were played indoors — while the Australian Open has retractable roofs over its two main courts and plans to cover a third. The French Open intends to have a roof over its center court within the next several years.

The players dealt with Friday’s delays in various ways. Wozniacki spent some time practicing indoors, then stopped by the cafeteria and wandered the hallways of Ashe.

Clijsters plunked herself down on the arm of a couch in the players’ lounge, chatting with pals.

“That’s tennis. That’s life,” said Clijsters, who returned to the tour last month after a 2½-year retirement. “It’s nothing new. I’d rather be waiting here than sitting at home.”

Williams knows a thing or two about this sort of situation: Her victory over Jelena Jankovic in the 2008 U.S. Open final came on Sunday.

What was her father, who also serves as her coach, saying to Williams on Friday?

“Telling her to just make sure she stays relaxed. Stay calm. Don’t get anxious. Just remember the things we worked on. Take a nap. Try to eat something. Do a little stretching where you don’t get too stiff,” Richard Williams said. “And keep your mind on when the time comes for you to go out and play, so you’re ready to go.”

All of Friday’s three matches were originally to be played in Ashe, one after the other, starting at 12:30 p.m.

One indication of the general state of disorder, though: At 12:30 p.m., with a drizzle falling, a message on the main video screen outside the main arena alerted ticket holders, “First match in Arthur Ashe Stadium scheduled for 1:00 p.m. Thank you for your patience.” Yet a smaller board to the side said: “First match in Arthur Ashe Stadium scheduled for 2:00 p.m.”

Organizers decided to try to spread out the matches, leaving Williams-Clijsters on Ashe, while moving Nadal-Gonzalez and Wozniacki-Wickmayer to other courts. All were to start simultaneously, weather permitting.

The weather never did permit that, though, and the four women were allowed to leave the grounds at about 5 p.m. Nadal and Gonzalez were asked to stick around a little longer; they were told they could depart at about 6 p.m. — seven hours after Nadal left his hotel Friday morning.