The storms that rolled through the US Open on Tuesday and Wednesday, causing play to be canceled both days, left the USTA with more than just scheduling headaches. The ATP’s top players voiced their concerns over playing in conditions that they felt were unsafe. They are also broaching the topic of player’s unions.
Andy Roddick chimed in his opinion about a player’s union after his match on Thursday: “It's something that interests me just because it's a glaring hole. I think we are the only sport without a players' union of major sports.”
The discontent among the players began on Wednesday when the players were called to the court despite the court not being fully dry, with mist falling. Rafael Nadal voiced his concern to ESPN’s Pam Shriver, which was aired during the rain delay: “The health of the players is important, and we don't feel protected.” He went on to say, “If I have to play [when it's] raining, I cannot accept that. We have to fight to change that, to have the power to change it.”
Andy Murray, who was vocal on Wednesday about the conditions being unsafe that day, discussed in his post-match interview on Thursday how different Grand Slams are because the ATP does not run them.
“Here we have an ATP Tour manager who was in the locker room with us beforehand yesterday, and he was saying, ‘It's still raining out there, guys. You shouldn't go out there and play.’ Then the referees here, it's different. You know, it's the ITF. They want us to go out on the court. If it was at an ATP tournament we wouldn't have been on the court, but because it's not, the ATP doesn’t run the Grand Slams, then it's not always up to us.”
Many of the players, including Murray, feel that the business side of things may have trumped player safety. The USTA was trying to keep fans, who had paid big money to see their favorite tennis stars play, and TV sponsors happy. They were pressing to get at least the men’s round of 16 in to keep the tournament on schedule for a Sunday finish. It was announced on Thursday afternoon that they were not successful and for the fourth year in a row will have a Monday men’s final.
With the rain at each year’s Open, comes a discussion of putting a roof over Arthur Ashe Stadium. The USTA released this statement on Wednesday: "Constructing a roof over Arthur Ashe Stadium remains technically complex and financially challenging. Though the USTA will continue to explore potential roof options, no plans exist for the construction of a roof at this time." Estimates have the roof costing between $150–200 million.
One thing the rain delay did bring was a more unified voice from the players. They want to feel represented and are prepared to have serious discussion about how to make their voice heard so that players safety is not put at risk to get matches in based on TV schedules.
Roddick said that while he supports the idea, it is tough to get a unified voice. “It's just tough to come together. I think you have to have the right person involved who might understand the business side of it, might actually understand numbers, the way something works. You're going have to have a player of some sort who's willing to make some sort of sacrifice a little bit.”
Murray hoped that everyone could sit down after the tournament and discuss how they should be represented and even invited the women’s tour to get in on the discussion.
For now, the men will play without a day off until a champion is crowned on Monday.
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