US Open: Rain delays start of play on outside courts

New York, Sep 2 (IANS) Rain disrupted the start of Tuesday’s play at the US Open, where the scheduled first-round matches on the outside courts will not begin before 2:45 p.m. local time (12.15 IST Wednesday).

Matches were continuing on the show courts—Louis Armstrong Stadium and Arthur Ashe Stadium — under the roofs.

The inclement New York weather has not stopped fifth seed Flavio Cobolli from beginning his title bid at the hard-court major; however, the Italian is contesting his opener against Francisco Comesana under the roof at Louis Armstrong Stadium. French star Gael Monfils will later begin the final Grand Slam campaign of his career against Adolfo Daniel Vallejo.

The Tuesday schedule on Arthur Ashe Stadium, which also has a retractable roof, features 2024 finalist Taylor Fritz. The home favourite faces his fellow American, #NextGenATP Darwin Blanch, in the second match on. In the night session, top seed Alexander Zverev takes on Lorenzo Sonego.

Alex de Minaur against Andrea Guerrieri, Lorenzo Musetti against Arthur Fery, and Rafael Jodar against Thanasi Kokkinakis are among the matches scheduled for outside courts on Tuesday once the rain clears at Flushing Meadows.

Meanwhile, Madison Keys survived a tough encounter before getting the better of Alina Korneeva in their first-round clash in the women’s singles event.

Teen sensation Korneeva had recently defeated Keys’ compatriots Emma Navarro and Iva Jovic at the WTA 1000 Toronto and posed some tough questions in the opening set. However, the 2017 runner-up found the telling shots in the crunch moments for a 7-5, 6-4 victory.

“It’s always funny. I think I’m still a teenager, so looking across the net and seeing a teenager doesn’t make much sense to me,” quipped Keys, seeded 24 in this edition. “It’s always tough playing someone who is young and up and coming; they’re going for all their shots.

–IANS

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