NEW YORK (Reuters) -Severe weather saw dozens of matches postponed at the U.S. Open on Wednesday while the tie between Diego Schwartzman and Kevin Anderson was halted after a set and moved to a different venue as remnants of Tropical Storm Ida ripped through New York City.
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.
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.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio declared a state of emergency due to the “historic weather event” with record-breaking rain leading to flooding and dangerous road conditions.
Nearly all of the New York City subway lines were suspended and the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) service between Flushing, Queens and Manhattan was suspended.
The Schwartzman and Anderson match resumed on Ashe around midnight, keeping fans in seats as the National Weather Service issued warnings to avoid travel.
A U.S. Tennis Association spokesperson said tournament officials were “in very close communication” with city police and transportation officials regarding the surrounding roadways, trains and subway line connecting the venue to Midtown Manhattan.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York, additional reporting by Sudipto Ganguly; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
