With rain falling, Kim Clijsters, Serena Williams, Rafael Nadal play waiting game at US Open

Clijsters, Nadal play waiting game at US Open

NEW YORK — Kim Clijsters sat perched on the arm of a couch in the players lounge Friday, talking to friends.

Her semifinal against Serena Williams at the U.S. Open was delayed by a persistent rainstorm that hit New York, so she was stuck waiting out the weather — one of the not-so-glamourous parts of the sport she has returned to this year with stunning success.

“That’s tennis. That’s life,” Clijsters said. “It’s nothing new. I’d rather be waiting here than sitting at home.”

Tournament officials briefly sent staff out to dry the court in Arthur Ashe Stadium in the late morning, but the mist and rain, part of a storm that rolled into New York late Thursday night, was persistent enough to make those efforts fruitless.

Still, with the rain continuing deep into the afternoon, contingency plans were being made.

No. 3 Rafael Nadal and No. 11 Fernando Gonzalez still had to complete their quarterfinal match, postponed Thursday night with Nadal up a set and leading 3-2 in the second-set tiebreaker. Yanina Wickmayer and No. 9 Carolina Wozniacki were on the schedule for the second women’s semifinal.

Aware that they had to take advantage of any possible break in the weather, lest the schedule be disrupted even more, tournament organizers decided to hold all three matches simultaneously.

The conclusion of Nadal-Gonzalez was moved to Armstrong Stadium, with the Wickmayer-Wozniacki match relocated to the Grandstand.

Clijsters’ surprising run to the semifinals came in her return to the U.S. Open for the first time since 2005, when she won the tournament. She is coming back from a two-year break to have a baby, and brought her 18-month-old daughter, Jada, to Flushing Meadows for the Open.

Clijsters is 1-7 against Williams over her career, with all the matches coming before her retirement. This will be their first meeting since 2003.

Not much to scout for Williams, seeded second and looking for her 12th Grand Slam singles championship. Not that it matters much.

“Two or three opponents here, I knew their game, but other than that, I haven’t seen anyone’s game,” Williams said. “That’s how I’ve pretty much played my whole career. I try to see what they do in warm-up and go from there.”

The rain offered a welcome break for Nadal, who took an injury timeout early in the second set Thursday to have work done on an abdominal strain that has been bothering him throughout the tournament.

Nadal, the six-time major winner trying to complete a career Grand Slam, has been reluctant to talk about the injury. He doesn’t want to let his opponents know his weaknesses. But the trainer poking and massaging his stomach during the medical timeout told the story.

As did his uncle and coach, Toni Nadal.

“In the first set, it was very, very bad,” he said. “Now, it’s a little better. It’s difficult. We must win this set.”

The rain meant the biggest — and only — winner from Thursday’s singles was Juan Martin del Potro. The sixth-seeded Argentine made his second Grand Slam semifinal by beating No. 16 Marin Cilic 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 earlier in the day, when the wind was blowing hard in front of the rainstorm.

“The weather was bad,” Del Potro said. “But it was bad for both players. I just need to be in focus in the beginning of the match until the last point and play my game.”

Del Potro awaited the winner of the Nadal-Gonzalez match, while the other men’s semifinal is set: No. 1 Roger Federer against No. 4 Novak Djokovic. Federer beat Djokovic at the U.S. Open in the 2007 final and 2008 semifinals, part of an overall 8-4 lead in the head-to-head series.

But the only time Federer has missed a final in the past 17 Grand Slam tournaments was after a loss to Djokovic, who won their semifinal en route to the 2008 Australian Open title.