NEW YORK :Severe weather in New York saw dozens of matches postponed at the U.S. Open on Wednesday while the singles tie between Diego Schwartzman and Kevin Anderson was halted after a set and moved to a different venue as rain soaked the court and fans.
Schwartzman and Anderson traded early breaks in the first set before play was halted for over 30 minutes at Louis Armstrong Stadium as the venue’s retractable roof was unable to prevent rain being blown in sideways by strong winds.
Schwartzman then slipped during a tiebreak in the first set and called for chair umpire Nacho Forcadell, who inspected the court as fans donned plastic ponchos and held up umbrellas.
The court was wiped down with towels and play resumed after nearly 10 minutes, but officials then suspended the match and later announced it would resume at Arthur Ashe Stadium following the tie between Stefanos Tsitsipas and Adrian Mannarino.
“You guys call me when you’re ready to play tennis,” said South African Anderson, the runner up in 2017, before leaving the court.
The second round match between former champion Angelique Kerber and Anhelina Kalinina, originally scheduled to begin after Schwartzman and Anderson, was pushed to Thursday.
The match between Tsitsipas and Mannarino was unaffected by the weather, with fans sitting comfortably inside the far more enclosed facility though rain drummed heavily on the roof.
Earlier in the day, more than two dozen doubles matches were postponed as the rain rolled in.
The National Weather Service issued a flash flood emergency advisory for the region, and parts of the plaza at Billie Jean King National Tennis Center were flooded.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York, additional reporting by Sudipto Ganguly; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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