Tennis: Where's the roof, howls McEnroe

The New York Post headline said it all - "Bummer of a Summer."

But for anyone still in any doubt, native New Yorker John McEnroe filled in the gaps.

"This is getting ridiculous, where's the roof?" he howled, sick of, in his words of, "twiddling his thumbs."

Tedium, frustration and boredom have replaced tennis during the second week of the US Open as drizzle and rain has all-but obliterated play.

Just four matches have been completed in the past three days and the spectre of spilling into a third week is looming large.

In the only match finished yesterday, Andy Roddick carried out a superb 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 demolition of Belgian Xavier Malisse.

The American fourth seed dealt admirably with delays and interruptions to become just the second men's player through to the quarter-finals, alongside world No 1 Andre Agassi.

It was his 16th successive win - the longest unbeaten streak on the men's tour this year.

He lost just three points on his service in the first two sets, underlining why many predict he will be crowned the new men's champion.

Roddick will meet either 12th-seeded Dutchman Sjeng Schalken or Germany's Rainer Schuettler, the No 8 seed, in the last eight.

McEnroe, four times a champion here in the 1970s and 80s, is in no doubt who is to blame for the mess here - and it isn't Mother Nature.

"Whoever spent US$250 million ($439.4 million) for the biggest tennis court in the world, and to me it is too big, should have made it smaller and built a roof," he said of the 23,000-seater Arthur Ashe Stadium.

"All these delays hurt our sport. Australia has retractable roofs for its Open, the fans get their money's worth."

The US Open does not even employ covers as used at the French Open and Wimbledon to protect the courts from rain.

McEnroe's co-commentator, Ted Robinson, wondered why the USTA is against their use.

"It's beyond my ability to comprehend why there are no tarpaulins here," he said.

USTA chief executive Arlen Kantarian says tarpaulins would only create a "three to four minute pick-up in terms of time."

That statistic is hard to swallow for anyone who has witnessed the teams of workers, on their hands and knees, frantically scrubbing the court with hand towels to dry it out after each shower.

Kantarian did say the Open is considering installing a retractable roof on one of its show courts.

"We have just hired some master planners, who have worked on venues in this country, to look at [the Open]," he said.

"One of the many reasons for the study is to take a more in-depth look at whether [a roof is] feasible.

There are thousands of fans, let alone players, who are hoping they come to the right conclusion.

Day 10 was very nearly a complete washout, with Schalken and Schuettler refusing to return to action following a second delay, arguing that the Armstrong Stadium court was unplayable.

With Schalken leading 5-1 the two players sat slumped in their chairs in the near-empty stadium for 20 minutes before officials postponed the match.

Frenchwoman Mary Pierce says the weather at Flushing Meadows still has some way to go to match Wimbledon.

The former Australian and French Open champion did not miss a beat when asked which Grand Slam was the most trying in terms of interruptions.

"I think pretty much almost anybody would say Wimbledon," she smiled, "because that's where it rains the most. This is a little taste of Wimbledon-like weather.

"With Wimbledon, it's not as bad, I guess, because if you stay in the village, you can just stay right in your place and hang out there."

- AGENCIES