US Open Crisis Center, Day 12

Howdy. So after two days of praying for a window of sunshine, consulting psychics hoping to learn when the rain will end, fretting about how to satisfy ticket holders and players alike, twisting and turning every which a way to ensure that the U.S. Open ends on schedule, what does the USTA do? They decide upon moving the men's final to Monday., The irony is delicious.

It's also a very sensible decision, and one which I'm sure the ATP and top pros had a major role in taking. Early yesterday, we were looking at the men in the bottom half of the draw having to play five-set matches on four consecutive days in order to get the tournament done on Sunday. That's not a crazy work load, it's insane.

Leading players can be peevish and whiney, given to sulking like Achilles in his silk tent. But once the ball is in play, most of them will leave it all out on the court in the effort to win, and never more so than in the later stages of a Grand Slam event. The risk of a Djokovic or Murray blowing out a knee in the course of his third or fourth grueling hard-court match in as many days was just too great for any responsible tennis politician to take. Besides, whatever else may have happened, an attempt to finish on time would almost certainly have made for a poor final contested between a pair of hollow-eyed, burned out warriors. Now, with a Monday final, everybody wins.

Anyway, John Isner and Andy Murray are about to start on Arthur Ashe; it's one of the more intriguing match-ups of the tournament, so I'll leave you it. I'll be covering the Roddick-Nadal match later on.

-- Pete