Rafael Nadal furious at US Open officials as rain spoils play on Wednesday – Tennis News
World number two, Rafael Nadal of Spain, led the players’ revolt at Flushing Meadows as rain washed out the second consecutive day at the US Open on Wednesday. The Spaniard asserted that players’ safety was being put in jeopardy
by the cash-conscious officials of the US Open, who were trying to rescue the rain-stricken event which endured a suspension of play for consecutive full day.
After the round of 16 matches were rescheduled to be played on Tuesday because of a heavy downpour on Monday, only 15 minutes of play was possible before a torrential cloudburst wiped out the rest of the play at Flushing Meadows.
The cascade left the second seeded Nadal wedged in the fourth round of the Grand Slam tournament, facing the Luxembourger contestant, Gilles Muller for a place in the quarter-finals. It implies that the Spaniard will now have to
play on four consecutive days if he has to defend his US Open championship title on Sunday.
The former world number was forced to begin his fourth round match against Muller on a damp Arthur Ashe Stadium and it only took 15 minutes before heavy downpour suspended play for the rest of the day. Nadal, along with the fourth
seeded Andy Murray and Andy Roddick, blasted at the tournament officials on putting their safety at risk by forcing them to play on a damp court surface and complained to the tournament referee, Brian Earley, about it.
“We don't want to go on court if it is raining. I think it’s not fair. It’s the same old story, all you ever care about is money,” said the defending champion. “We are not protected. There is a lot of money at the Grand Slams but
we are part of the show. They are just working for that and not for us. It was still raining when they called us on court. The rain never really stopped, the courts were not dry. I know the fans are there but the health of the players is important.”
Nadal was trailing zero games to three against Muller in the fourth round match when the two contestants were forced to abandon play because of deteriorating weather conditions. Murray was 1-2 down against Donald Young, while Andy
Roddick was leading 3-1 over David Ferrer in the contest when all the matches were called off due to heavy rain. The suspended matchups will be played on Thursday afternoon, along with the quarterfinal round.
Tags: