Open has new schedule in place if storm arrives

NEW YORK -- With Tropical Storm Hanna menacing from the Atlantic Ocean, the U.S. Open has begun to couch “Super Saturday” plans with the phrase “weather permitting.”

The United States Tennis Assn. has adopted contingency plans for the men’s last two rounds and the women’s final should the outer edges of Hanna deluge the metropolis with rain today as expected.

The men’s semifinals, traditionally underway at 9 a.m. PDT, will begin at 8 a.m. PDT, with Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic playing at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Because the forecast called for the rain to hit around midday and grow heavy by late afternoon, the USTA held out the possibility that Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray would play their semifinal concurrently in next-door Louis Armstrong Stadium.

If Hanna’s spite prevents the whole schedule today, the men’s singles semifinals would go on Sunday at 10 a.m. PDT on ESPN2 and at 1 p.m. PDT on CBS. The women’s final would move from tonight to Sunday night, beginning at 6 p.m. PDT. The men’s final would then start Monday at 1 p.m. PDT on CBS.

If the men’s semifinals finish as planned today before the rain arrives, but the rain washes out the women’s final between Serena Williams and Jelena Jankovic slated for tonight, both finals would occur on Sunday, with the women at 1 p.m. PDT on CBS and the men at 6 p.m. PDT on CBS.