Players revolt over rain, umpires complain about pay and all fear another Monday finish at Flushing Meadow
Rain, referees and umpires
Anyone following the US Open for the last two days will have been frustrated by the rain. Although possibly not as much as the players appear to have been after it briefly stopped raining.
As Kevin Mitchell at Flushing Meadow reports, there was a mini-revolt over court conditions. Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Andy Roddick, met tournament referee, Brian Earley, with the temperature of the meeting depending upon whose account you were trying to read between the lines of.
Nadal later said: "It was a tough day. We don't feel protected here. The tournament grand slams, they are [getting] a lot of money and they are working for that, but not [for] us."
Which is where the umpires come in, because they really aren't seeing much of that money.
"Gold badge chair umpires, the highest-rated officials in professional tennis, the ones who work the most important tournaments and matches, make $250 each day at the Open," reports the New York Times.
"A spreadsheet obtained by The New York Times showed that Wimbledon paid gold badge umpires �189, or about $306 daily. The French Open paid 190 euros (about $270), even for the tournament's qualifying rounds, while the United States Open pays $185 a day for its qualifying rounds."
As a result only about half of the world's best tennis umpires - who are professionals after all - are in New York. 24 of the 26 gold-badge officials were at Wimbledon, but just 13 are at the US Open.
According to Fox Sports one leading official said:
"We've heard they spend more on the flower arrangements at the Open than they do on officiating."
As professional stars in a wide variety of sports earn more and more, can it be right that those who are supposed to keep those players in line are paid so little?
The umpire's job
So far, in this tournament, 30 players have been fined $44,600 for 33 code violations, reports the New York Times. It argues, however, that infractions are less ill-tempered than they used to be.
The NYT continues: "What is different from the bad old days? Paid professional umpires have replaced unpaid volunteers, and players can resort to electronic replays to verify a call they think is wrong. As a result, gone are the towering tantrums of Ilie Nastase, the umpire baiting of John McEnroe and the crude gestures of Jimmy Connors."
Is tennis better or worse for the loss of such characters?
When will the final be played?
After two days of almost constant rain, organisers are still saying that they hope to finish the tournament on Sunday. This will leave players facing the prospect of four games in four days, which will surely test fitness levels to the extreme. Is a more likely (and indeed necessary, should there be more rain) option to delay the final. That would, however, make this the fourth consecutive US Open to be finished on a Monday.
Patience with that is surely wearing thin.
"Two years ago, the USTA declared it was examining building a retractable roof over Ashe Stadium, and former USTA CEO Arlen Kantarian said it was "not a matter of if but when".
However, with a change in leadership and an economic recession, the roof plans were on life support last September. A source familiar with the situation yesterday said talks of a roof "are totally dead" because of the cost."
Monday finishes can be fun. I was lucky enough to be at the 2001 Wimbledon final, which became known as "The People's Final" due to the fact that Sunday's tickets were not valid and anyone who was willing to queue for several hours on a Monday would get a seat.
Had it not been on the Monday it is possible that the atmosphere might not have been quite so electric. Although it quite possibly would, as it was an incredible tennis match, pitching two old hands against each other, seeking, in all probability, a last Grand Slam win. Goran Ivanisevic was the first wild-card entry to reach the Wimbledon final after beating Britain's Tim Henman in a five-set semi-final. He had lost three previous Wimbledon finals. Pat Rafter, cheered on by some very vocal Australians (is there any other kind?), was looking for Wimbledon glory a year after being beaten at the Centre Court final hurdle by Pete Sampras.
Like all great contests it ebbed and flowed, until Ivanisevic finally claimed victory 6-3 3-6 6-3 2-6 9-7.
A retractable roof was put over the Wimbledon centre court in 2009.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2011/sep/08/us-open-tennis-2011-monday
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