Tennis Atlantic

Tonight was another tough night to be a tennis fan. Only one match made it into the second set. Like twelve days ago, when we spent five hours at Legg Mason to see Gaels Monfils score exactly one point, tonight we saw Julia Cohen score two over three hours.

Unlike Legg Mason’s Soggy Semifinal Saturday, this was no sustained downpour. It was like Mother Nature messing with our minds. Just enough rain on the court to stop play, followed by twenty dry minutes and another little rain. Repeat the sequence over and over, and that is what happened tonight. You wish Mother Nature would just get it out of her system and be done with it. We didn’t get that lucky tonight.

The decision to play indoor matches and then the reversal was a little strange. First, they announced that the 5 p.m. matches would be moved indoors, and then they canceled the plan at 7 p.m. “We had the option to move the matches indoors, but we really want to complete the tournament outdoors weather permitting,” said Lew Brewer, USTA US Open Wild Card Playoff tournament director. “If rains hits Friday, the matches will be moved indoors and throughout the weekend if necessary. We have decided to move our semifinals to Saturday and our finals to Sunday.”

Tomorrow’s Order of Play is below. A handy PDF is also available, thanks to Steve Pratt of the USTA. Sounds like a Baltimore name to us. Sounds like a great pen name for us, too. Shame it’s already taken. Here’s Steve’s release after the OOP link.

PDF here: 2011 US Open Wild Card Playoff Order of Play 20110819

Three first-round matches were halted in progress after approximately 45 minutes of play with the following scores:
            Tennys Sandgren (5) leads Rhyne Williams (4) 3-2
            Ashley Weinhold (2) leads Madison Keys (7) 4-3
            Nicole Gibbs (8) leads Julia Cohen 6-0, 1-0
           
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Friday’s schedule of play will be as follows:
 
Stadium Court at 11 a.m.
Julia Cohen (1) vs. Nicole Gibbs (8), in progress
Followed by
Ahsha Rolle (4) vs. Beatrice Capra (5)
Followed by
Denis Kudla (2) vs. Bjorn Fratangelo (7)
Not before 6 p.m.
Bobby Reynolds (1) vs. Bradley Klahn (8)
 
Grandstand Court at 11 a.m.
Ashley Weinhold (2) vs. Madison Keys (7), in progress
Followed by
Gail Brodsky (3) vs. Jessica Pegula (6)
Not before 6 p.m.
Daniel Kosakowski (3) vs. Mitchell Frank (6)
 
Court 3 at 11 a.m.
Tennys Sandgren (4) vs. Rhyne Williams (5), in progress
 
Eight first-round matches (four men’s and four women’s matches) were to be played Thursday with men’s and women’s semifinals scheduled for Friday and finals on Saturday. Due to the postponement of play, the event has been extended through Sunday. 
 
Weekend Schedule
Saturday 4 pm:  Two women’s semifinals followed by two men’s semifinals
Sunday 11 am: Women’s final followed by men’s final
 
Tickets will be honored at any session.