http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/46364000/jpg/_46364920_tiger226x170gety.jpg

US Open officials say they are ready to "develop" plans for a roof over Arthur Ashe Stadium but any decision remains "some time" away.

This year's event has been disrupted by rain and an extra day's play will be required for the second year running.

But the estimated $100m cost of a roof remains a major issue.

"We are substantially farther along the road of consideration than we were six months ago," said US Tennis Association chief Gordon Smith.

"There had been a few preliminary studies regarding a roof.

"We have gone past the consideration stage of 'Are we going to at least look at plans?' to actually developing plans, which at some point in the not-too-distant future will give us some idea of cost."

He added: "It will be some time before there's any decision made on whether or not to go forward with the roof.

We would be looking at issues some years down the road and the present economy has not slowed the process at all."

The main courts at the Australian Open and Wimbledon each have a roof, and there are plans to construct one at the French Open.

But the size of the Arthur Ashe Stadium, which has a capacity of 23,000, makes it a more expensive process than at the other Grand Slam tournaments.

"Would be great to have a roof," said Smith. "Would be great to have the money to put the roof up. It's a much more difficult decision.

"The reason is we're non-profit. Our mission is to grow and develop the game of tennis.

"Are you going to spend $100m or more, we don't know exactly, on a roof that you might use once a year, which would be the average, or is the money better spent promoting the game?"An alternative to building a roof over Arthur Ashe Stadium would be to do so on the Louis Armstrong Stadium or Grandstand Stadium.

"The master planning group is going to consider a wide range of options," said Smith.

"Once we understand the cost of the roof over Ashe, it could lead to some consideration of other options. Nothing is out at this point.

"When we look at the design considerations, the cost of that, consideration of another stadium is not off the table."

The 'Super Saturday' format of playing both men's singles semi-finals and the women's final on the same day, before the men return 24 hours later for their final, has also come in for criticism.

"We have a particular finals scenario that we've had in place for several decades, and we're comfortable that it is, in fact, fair," said tournament director Jim Curley.

"If you were to ask a player, would they say it's ideal? No, they would not say it's ideal. A player would like to get a day in between the semis and the finals. We all know that.

"It's important from our USTA perspective to promote and develop the growth of the game.

"It gets to a much larger audience, and that's one of the reasons why we do it."

Nadal & Gonzalez delayed by rain

US OPEN
Venue: Flushing Meadows, New York Date: 31 August - 13 September
BBC coverage: Live text commentaries on the website from 1600 BST each day, regular updates on 5 live, full commentary on 5 live sports extra in week two, both finals on 5 live. Live on Sky Sports and Eurosport.World number three Rafael Nadal took the first set against 11th seed Fernando Gonzalez before rain stopped play in their US Open quarter-final.

Third seed Nadal saved two set points and had treatment for an abdominal injury, but still led 7-6 (7-4) 6-6 (3-2) when rain hit the night session.

It was the second interruption, after the players had been forced off for 75 minutes early in the second set.

Argentina's Juan Martin del Potro awaits the winner in the semi-finals.

Nadal was four points from taking a two-set lead when play ended for the day but Gonzalez will remain hopeful after pushing the Spaniard hard.

Their match was scheduled to resume after the women's semi-final between Kim Clijsters and Serena Williams on Arthur Ashe Stadium court.

But further rain on Friday has meant there will be no play before 1900 BST and it may be moved to Louis Armstrong Stadium.

Gonzalez earned two set points in the 12th game of the first set but missed a good chance on a second-serve return, and fell behind early in the ensuing tie-break.

Nadal took it but then immediately called for the trainer and showed signs of discomfort during the three-minute medical timeout.

His play remained of the highest quality though and Gonzalez found himself staring down the barrel at 15-40 in game 10 of the second set, but the Chilean came up with two huge serves and managed to force a second tie-break.

That was going with serve when bad weather intervened for the second time at 10.20pm local time as Gonzalez prepared to serve trailing 3-2, although play was not officially called off until past midnight.

The eventual winner of this match will now to have to play for four successive days if they are to win the title.

In the earlier match, sixth seed Del Potro came back from a set and a break down to beat Croatia's Marin Cilic and reach the semi-finals.

Cilic, conqueror of Andy Murray in round four, made a fine start to his first Grand Slam quarter-final, but Del Potro broke in game six of the second set and never looked back, coming through 4-6 6-3 6-2 6-1.

606: DEBATE
Is it me, or has Del Potro's tennis gone up a level or two since the French Open?

snowmandyj

Del Potro will go into his first US Open semi-final in buoyant mood after finishing so strongly against fellow 20-year-old Cilic, but knowing he needs a faster start.

"I cannot start the match like today," Del Potro said afterwards. "I was thinking about other things, and the weather was bad. But it was bad for both players.

"I just need to be in focus in the beginning of the match until the last point and play my game."

He added: "My dream is win this tournament. I'm so close to doing it, but now I am focusing on the semis."

Clic, the 16th seed, got going in sensational fashion, breaking Del Potro in game five and, after serving out the first set, again at the start of the second.

But Del Potro, who initially seemed ill-at-ease with the cold conditions on Arthur Ashe Stadium, hit back to level at 3-3 and dominated from there on in.

Cilic completely lost his range as Del Potro broke at 4-3 before the Argentine served out the second set and then wrapped up the third in 36 minutes.

The fourth set was even more one-sided until Cilic offered late resistance with a break at 0-5 - but Del Potro responded immediately to seal his triumph in two hours and 32 minutes.

"The beginning of the match I was playing really good and moving him around a lot," said Cilic, "and I found after the first set that it got a lot cooler and the court was a little bit hard to play on.

"The ball wasn't going through the court as much as it was in the beginning, and then he was like all the time on top of me and not letting me find any other solution to get back."

Roddick powers to late-night win

Fifth seed Andy Roddick maintained his good form as he swept past France's Marc Gicquel in the night session to reach the third round of the US Open.

The American won 6-1 6-4 6-4 in a match that finished after midnight local time on Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Roddick goes on to face 6ft 9ins American John Isner, who beat Turkey's Marsel Ilhan 6-3 6-4 7-6 (7-1)

Fourth seed Novak Djokovic earlier made smooth progress into round three with a straight-sets win over Carsten Ball.

The Serb, 22, came through 6-3 6-4 6-4 and will next face American qualifier Jesse Witten for a place in the last 16.

Djokovic could only break once in each set against the big-serving Australian and missed a further 13 break-point chances.

"It's always hard to predict what to expect in the match against a guy who you don't know basically," said Djokovic.
He was serving between 130, 140mph throughout the whole match. He was going for the serves. I knew he was going to try to be aggressive."

Djokovic added: "Physically I feel great. I feel ready. I feel confident on the court, mentally motivated and willing to do more. I just have a big desire to perform good and to win the matches."

James Blake, the 21st seed, enjoyed a dramatic 6-4 3-6 7-6 (8-6) 6-3 win over Olivier Rochus that saw the schedule pushed back on Arthur Ashe Stadium and the night session delayed.

As a result, Roddick did not begin his match until 10.20pm, but the 2003 champion had few problems despite some flamboyant hitting from Gicquel.

"Even in the second set when he got down, he started playing a little bit more aggressively and that was certainly the case in the last game," said Roddick.

"He came back and I was getting a little nervous there but I'm glad I was able to pull it out."

Looking ahead to his match with the 6ft 9ins Isner, Roddick added: "John's been playing a lot better and it's going to be a completely different match-up.

"I'm not going to be able to break as much as in these first couple of matches and it's going to come down to a couple of points here and there."

Two-time semi-finalist Nikolay Davydenko swept aside Jan Hernych 6-4 6-1 6-2 to reach the third round.

Spain's Fernando Verdasco, seeded 10th, also won easily, to set up a clash with in-form veteran Tommy Haas.

The 25-year-old - who won his first ATP Tour title in New Haven last week - triumphed 6-3 6-0 6-3 in less than 90 minutes against Florent Serra of France.

Germany's Haas, the 20th seed, had to work slightly harder, converting just two of 18 break points before eventually beating Robert Kendrick 6-4 6-4 7-6 (7-3).

The victory was Hass's 30th at Flushing Meadow and the 31-year-old says that he is enjoying his tennis as his career moves into its final years.

"Other aches and pains come along as you get older," said the German, who has had surgery on his shoulder three times.

"Anybody will tell you that. But it's still good enough for me to go out there and compete."

Robin Soderling, seeded 12th, was handed an easy passage into round three when his Spanish opponent Marcel Granollers was forced to retire in the third game of their match with a back injury.

Sam Querrey, the 22nd seed, also made progress thanks to a 7-5 6-7 (8-6) 6-4 6-4 win over Kevin Kim and will play Soderling next.

And another American, Witten, continued his unexpected run of wins by seeing off Argentina's Maximo Gonzalez 6-7 (7-3) 6-4 7-5 6-2.