The roof over the Arthur Ashe Stadium has drawn rave reviews from many, because it has added playability and subtracted wind from the equation, but the shadows the giant steel structure casts have been troubling to players sheduled to play at high noon.
That wasn't supposed to be a problem for the women. But thanks to the rain, it now is.
Originally Flavia Pennetta’s US Open semifinal was to be played on Thursday evening, along with Serena Williams and Roberta Vinci's semifinal. The scheduling was perfect for Pennetta, who claimed to want no part of the challenging shadow pattern that has diluted the quality of the day’s first matches on Arthur Ashe Stadium since the tournament began. But rain in New York has turned the women's semifinals from a Thursday night affair to a Friday morning session.
“If I could choose I prefer night session, of course, because I like the light,” Pennetta said after her upset three-set victory over Petra Kvitova on Wednesday in New York. “It's not the big problem for me with playing with light. And play with this, I mean, the shade on the court was a disaster today. I was not able to see. I mean, was the same for her, for sure. I mean, it's not easy. But it was the same for both of us.”
Much to Pennetta’s chagrin, rain once again wreaked havoc on the US Open and her semifinal with Halep was been switched and will be the first match on Friday morning when Day 12 play begins at the US Open at 11 AM.
SEE THE COMPLETE US OPEN SEMIFINAL SCHEDULE HERE
It promises to make things tricky for both players. In the first set of the Kvitova-Pennetta match on Wednesday only one game was won from the sunny side of the court. Kvitova also agreed that it was difficult to get used to seeing the ball as it flew from the shade into a bright sunlight. “It's not very nice when you're playing out there,” she said. “Of course you're feeling much better if you are in the shade. You're just feeling a little bit like cooler. But when you see the ball it's kind of a little bit tricky because you really don't see as well as you normally do. That's why probably we were kind of suffering from the first set.”
The effect could be muted if overcast prevails on Friday, and that could very well be the case. The forecast calls for scattered showers, with a forty percent chance of rain.
Pennetta knows she needs to be more concerned with the game of Halep rather than the conditions. The No. 2 seed played inspired tennis in knocking off two-time US Open champion Victoria Azarenka in the quarterfinals on Wednesday, and the Italian knows what kind of talent she’ll be tasked with toppling.
“Halep, it's look like she's not that powerful like Vika but she is,” Pennetta said after her match on Wednesday. “She is more powerful, I think. To make a winner to her you have to finish the point seven times. She always there, always in—the ball is always come back. It's gonna be like marathon, I think.”
Notes, Numbers
For the first time in the Open Era Italian women have placed two women into the semifinals of the same major. Roberta Vinci, who defeated Kristina Mladenovic in the quarters, has reached her first Grand Slam semifinal at the age of 32. Her reward? Facing Serena Williams.
At 23, Halep is the youngest of the four women’s semifinalists, and the only player that is under 30 years of age. Serena Williams (33), Pennetta (33) and Vinci (32) are the other three.
Serena Williams is the only player among the four semifinalists to own a Grand Slam title. Halep has reached a final once, and Pennetta has reached the US Open semifinals twice now. This is Vinci’s first trip to the final four at a major.
Vinci is the 16th unseeded player to reach the last four at a major since 2001 (the year majors started seeding 32 players). Only 12 unseeded players have reached a women’s singles final at a Grand Slam in the Open Era