Schedule of Play for Saturday:
- 11AM EST -- Crazy Fed vs. Naughty Nole (Arthur Ashe)
- Not Before Noon -- Reedeecooloos Rafa vs. Muscles Murray (may be moved to Armstrong)
- 7pm -- Saucy Serena vs. Weird Jelena Jankovic (Ashe)
All of this is, of course, weather permitting. As of 5:30pm EST today:
The current weather forecast for the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center calls for rain to begin late tonight, which will subside in the early morning until late afternoon. Rain is then expected throughout Saturday night.
So it looks like it's very likely that both Men's Semis could be played at the same time in order to get playin during the dry window. That sucks.
As for contingency plans:
Scenario I: In the event that the USTA is forced to cancel the Men’s Singles Semifinals (Session #24) and the Women’s Singles Final (Session #25) due to inclement weather on Saturday, Sept. 6, each session would be rescheduled for Sunday at 1:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m., respectively. As a result, the Men’s Singles Final (Session #26) would be rescheduled for Monday at 5:00 p.m.
Scenario II: In the event that the USTA is forced to cancel the Saturday Night Women’s Singles Final (Session #25) due to inclement weather, both the Women’s and Men’s Singles Finals would be played on Sunday as two separate sessions -- one at 4:00 p.m. and one at 9:00 p.m. The decision regarding which Final will be played at 4:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. will be decided upon based on the time of completion of the Saturday Men’s Semifinals. If the Men’s Semifinals are not completed on Saturday, Scenario I will take effect.
Boy, the USTA really thought this one out. Can we get them to replace FEMA?
The only problem I see is that the winner of the Rafa/Murray match, which is likely to be more physical than the Nole/Roger match, could get rained out on Saturday (since it's starting later). If that happens they would have to show up on Sunday to play/finish their match, and then turn around the next day to play the final on Monday. Meanwhile, if the Fed/Nole match doesn't get rained out, those guys will have a full day and a half of rest for the final.
Seems a bit unfair to the world #1, no?
