Players raise roof at soggy US Open

"It's always the same - you only think about the money," Rafa Nadal told Brian Earley, supervisor of the US Open, as he stalked off court on Wednesday. Shortly afterward, the disgruntled number two seed was seen leaving the tournament referee's office with Andy Roddick and David Ferrer, both of whom had been forced onto slippery courts under leaden skies as the USTA races against time to complete this year's competition. The US Open final has been played on a Monday the past three years.

"This is one of the biggest events in tennis, a Grand Slam tournament, so maybe they should consider a roof in future," said world number one Novak Djokovic, who was fortunate to have completed his fourth-round match on Monday. Both Djokovic and Roger Federer were slated to play their quarterfinal matches on Wednesday, when the bottom half of the men's draw was still locked in last-16 action. When play was finally suspended, Nadal was 0-3 down against Gilles Müller, Ferrer trailed Roddick 1-3 and Andy Murray and Donald Young were on serve at 1-2.

"It was still raining when they called us on court," said Nadal. "The rain never really stopped and the courts were not dry."

"If it's up for discussion whether the courts are playable, then they're not playable," said 2003 champion Roddick. "We just wanted to make sure we weren't put in that position again, and I think we're all clear now."

Talk of a roof has been rife for many years, with the US Open often pummeled by inclement weather. This year, tropical storm Lee has exacerbated the problem and essentially washed out two entire days. The USTA was forced to schedule the ladies' quarterfinals simultaneously - an eventuality that hardly benefits paying customers.

"The days are quite draining. Today, for example, we were told 4.30pm so we were warming for 4.30pm, then it was 4.45pm, and it's every 15 minutes until 5.30pm. So we're warming up, warming up and they're putting it back, putting it back, and then we get cancelled at 5.45pm," Murray told the ATP website.

The US Open Inclement Weather Policy states that if there has been no day-session play by 5pm, the session is considered cancelled. If play begins before 5pm, 90 minutes of play must take place for the policy to be avoided. If a session is cancelled, customers have the right to a new ticket for either the 2011 or 2012 tournament.

"I'd love to have a roof," said tournament director Jim Curley. "Having said that, a roof on Arthur Ashe Stadium is technologically a challenge and financially its cost is prohibitive - upward of $200 million. Would I love to a have a roof? Sure, I'd love to have numerous roofs."

Wimbledon's Center Court roof was built in 2009 at a cost of 100 million pounds - and then sat idle until 2011 as glorious weather made an uncharacteristic appearance in SW19.

On Thursday, it also did so in New York as Nadal wrapped up a 7-6, 6-1, 6-2 win over Müller.