Plans put in place for rain

Tournament officials are considering erecting a roof over their main show court to prevent a repeat of the weather interruptions which have delayed both singles finals and taken the final grand slam of the year into a third week. After the frustration of seeing the women's final between Serena Williams and Jelena Jankovic postponed until yesterday, Arlen Kantarian, chief executive of the tournament, backtracked on an early declaration that a roof over the Arthur Ashe Stadium was too expensive.

"At this point it is a question of when and not if,"he said. "We believe this tournament has reached the point where we are looking seriously at putting a roof on the Arthur Ashe Stadium." This is the first time since 1974 that the women's final has not taken place on the second Saturday. If either player is going to benefit from the delay it is Jankovic, who has been suffering recently from the cumulative effects of being one of the most active players on the WTA tour.

Excited about playing in one of the four major finals for the first time, Jankovic said: "To be honest, this has been the first grand slam at which I don't have any injuries and don't have any issues bothering me." Jankovic, who will regain the No 1 ranking she held briefly last month if she wins, is aware of the task she faced taking on the younger of the two Californian sisters in front of a partisan New York crowd.

"Overall, Serena's the strongest player on the tour, together with her sister," she said. "Nobody has the power that they have. We cannot compare. "At least I cannot compare to either of them with their strength. They're great athletes and I'm a little athlete. It will be difficult but possible." The tightness at the top of the rankings means that Serena will also be No 1 in the world if she wins the tournament.

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