US Open officials will make men play four rounds in as many days, and possibly in a Monday final for the first time since 1987, under a revamped schedule for the rain-ravaged event announced Wednesday.
Showers drenched the Grand Slam tennis gathering for the third day in a row here Wednesday. Only three matches have been completed since Sunday and heavy rain is forecast Thursday, after which skies are predicted to clear for a week.
ATP and WTA Tour officials met with global broadcasters and US Tennis Association officials for 2 1/2 hours to develop a plan that would have only two players looking at more than one match a day on the way to the finals.
The plan has men's quarter-finals Friday, semi-finals Saturday and the final on Sunday while women would play the semi-finals in a special Friday night session and the final Saturday night.
But that relies upon finishing men's fourth round and women's quarter-final matches Thursday. If rain reigns again, men are looking at a Monday final.
"Let's get a Monday final going. I don't see why not," US fourth seed Andy Roddick said. "It could compromise the quality of the tennis if we play four straight days, but that's not my decision to make."
{{/usCountry}}"Let's get a Monday final going. I don't see why not," US fourth seed Andy Roddick said. "It could compromise the quality of the tennis if we play four straight days, but that's not my decision to make."
{{/usCountry}}That choice belonged to Arlen Kantarian, USTA president, who found the pain of a possible Monday men's final easier to swallow than the potential for men's players having to play two best-of-five matches in a single day.
"Certainly it's not desirable. It's very disappointing," Kantarian said of a Monday final. "We have less viewers watching the talent out here on a Monday or Tuesday."
World number one Andre Agassi has a huge edge in his bid for a ninth Grand Slam title as a result. On Tuesday, Agassi reached the quarter-finals, a match he will not play until Friday or Saturday versus a foe who played a day before.
"It would be really tough. It would be tough on everybody," said Agassi, the oldest man here at 33. "It's hard for all the guys. I have to hopefully deal with it better than my opponent."
While disdaining the phrase "crisis mode", Kantarian called the situation "challenging" and admitted changes are possible, saying, "This is a rolling calendar at this point that is changing to a large degree by the hour."