Sports

Weather delays Open matches

A tournament official discusses the situation with Ferrer (left) and Djokovic, whose match will resume today at 11 a.m.

A tournament official discusses the situation with Ferrer (left) and Djokovic, whose match will resume today at 11 a.m. (EPA)

Severe weather, including a tornado watch, played havoc with the U.S. Open yesterday. The USTA postponed the women’s singles final in hopes of shoehorning in both men’s semifinals, and then was forced to cancel the second of those semis in the midst of the first set. The women’s final and the completion of the men’s semifinal are slated for today.

Fourth-seeded David Ferrer ran out to a 5-2 lead on No. 2 Novak Djokovic before play was called on Arthur Ashe Stadium. That semi will conclude at 11 a.m. today on ESPN2, with the victor playing Andy Murray tomorrow (4 p.m., CBS) with the Scotsman enjoying an extra day of rest.

“I’ve been in the position before when I played in the final where I didn’t get the day off and maybe it hurt me a little bit,’’ said Murray, who fell to a more-rested Roger Federer in the 2008 U.S. Open final.

“Novak and David are very, very experienced, so I’m sure they’ll deal with the situation, better than I did back then anyway. But, yeah, it’d be nice to get a rest [today], and also to be able to practice and get your rhythm back.’’

Open tournament director David Brewer downplayed the edge Murray will have.

“He does not get a day of rest, but [today] will be a beautiful day. He’s not going to be playing in the conditions these guys played in [yesterday],’’ Brewer said. “We were hopeful we’d get them both in.”

Serena Williams’ final against Victoria Azarenka originally was scheduled for last night, but the USTA wasted no time, cancelling it at 1 p.m. once it became clear storms were due to arrive as it was set to start. It will be played today, not before 4 p.m. on CBS.

They considered moving one of the men’s semifinals to another stadium, but elected not to.

“The consensus was it was fair to try to get both matches played on Ashe,’’ Brewer said. “Frankly, we got surprised by pop-up showers, pushed us back 90 minutes. Did we consider it? Yes. But we felt in fairness to ticketholders and the broadcast audience who tunes in to see two men’s semis to keep them on the same court.’’

After a fifth straight year of weather pushing back the men’s final, Brewer admitted, “we’re getting very tired of having a Monday final,’’ but doesn’t expect a roof on Ashe Stadium in the near future. “We talk about a roof all the time. The engineering and technology is just not quite there yet. When it is, we’ll be one of most eager people to listen.’’

There will, however, be a rest day next year between both the semifinals and finals.