In tennis, if something bad happens in the middle of a point — say, a cat runs across the court — then everyone involved agrees …
In tennis, if something bad happens in the middle of a point — say, a cat runs across the court — then everyone involved agrees to “play a let.” Suffice it to say, the United States Tennis Association would not mind playing a let over how it handled its evening session of tennis on Wednesday night. With a storm packing historic levels of rainfall, and heavy winds approaching the New York metropolitan area, the U.S.T.A. did nothing. Even though the New York Mets, who play on the other side of the railroad tracks, canceled their Wednesday game on Tuesday night, the U.S.T.A. did not cancel its scheduled matches or tell fans to stay home. The U.S.T.A. has spent hundreds of millions of dollars during the past decade renovating the tennis center, including putting roofs on its two main stadiums, so it could keep at least some matches playing in inclement weather. That is what the police department told tennis officials was on the way at a 4:30 p.m. meeting: “heavy rain.” As the storm was zeroing in on New York City, nearly 22,000 people descended on the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, many of them arriving by public transportation, even though cancellations of matches on field courts began at 5:30 p.m., and at 6:10 p.m. all matches on uncovered courts were postponed. The U.S.T.A. opened the grounds to evening session ticket holders at 6:30 p.m. An hour later, it was clear the strength of the storm had far surpassed what the tennis officials had thought. By the early evening, thunderous rain pounded the roof of Arthur Ashe Stadium, and the wind blew rain sideways into Louis Armstrong Stadium, forcing officials to stop play there at 8:15 p.
