Roddick's Match Relocated After Water Issue At Louis Armstrong Stadium

Thursday's U.S. Open fourth-round Andy Roddick-David Ferrer match "had to be halted and relocated from Louis Armstrong Stadium" to the much-smaller Court 13 because of "water that was squirting up through a fissure behind the baseline," according to Wayne Coffee of the N.Y. DAILY NEWS. Roddick and Ferrer completed two games before Roddick "noticed that a small patch of water had gurgled through a crack." After more than an hour, the players returned and "found the problem uncorrected," at which point an "exasperated Roddick threw up his hands and the players walked off again." Roddick: "We play for 15 seconds and then water comes up" (NYDAILYNEWS.com, 9/8). Roddick said to Tournament Referee Brian Earley, "I told you it’s going to keep coming up, it's from underneath. Now I’m really starting to get pissed off. I was perfect the first time we handled this. I come out here, I told you not to dab at it every 30 seconds. How hard is it not to see water? Jesus! ... You said you would clean it up with a towel, it’s going to look dry, Brian. You just stepped right there and it came up. Why are we out here right now? I mean, you’re killing these people and you’re killing us. What are you doing? I’m baffled right now, absolutely baffled. You knew what I was going to do when I came out here” (ESPN2, 9/8). Ferrer said, "The court was no good. Andy’s reaction was normal. If I didn’t have the same reaction it’s because I don’t speak good English" (N.Y. TIMES, 9/9).

AN UNUSUAL DAY IN FLUSHING MEADOWS: The Roddick-Ferrer match moved from the 10,103-seat Louis Armstrong Stadium to the 584-seat Court 13 at Roddick's request, and SI.com's S.L. Price writes, "It was the usual scene at a Grand Slam fourth-round match: Reporters getting chased off the court between points, a crowd so tiny that the sound of shrieking ... from across the U.S. Tennis Center stopped play, Andy Roddick holding up Ferrer in mid-serve when he spied someone scaling the chain-link behind him" (SI.com, 9/9). SI.com's Jon Wertheim wrote, "I think Roddick was well within his rights to become concerned and upset, especially coming as this did on the heels of [Wednesday's] controversy. He and the other players were risking injury" (SI.com, 9/8). TENNIS.com's Steve Tignor wrote if Thursday "was the revolt, was this the new order, one in which the inmates had taken over the asylum?" Tignor: "It was pretty clear who was in charge" (TENNIS.com, 9/8). This all comes as the USTA Thursday announced that the men's final will be played Monday afternoon due to the rain earlier in the week, while the women's final has been pushed back to Sunday (THE DAILY).