Rain threatens men's semi-finals at Flushing Meadows

Forecasts of rain for Saturday have prompted the US Tennis Association to schedule an earlier than normal start for the US Open men's semi-finals and make back-up plans for title matches.

Organizers of the year's final Grand Slam tournament announced Friday that Saturday's men's semi-finals would begin at 11 in the morning (1500 GMT) rather than noon as has been typical on past "Super Saturday" sessions.

Forecasts call for rain late Friday ending in the early morning and not resuming until late Saturday afternoon, which could open a window of opportunity to play the semi-finals at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Four-time defending champion Roger Federer, the Swiss second seed, will face Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic, the Serbian third seed, in the 11 a.m. semi-final at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

World number one Rafael Nadal, the Wimbledon and French Open champion, will meet British sixth seed Andy Murray not before noon in a match that might be moved to Louis Armstrong Stadium in order to try and finish ahead of the rain.

The forecast is bleaker for the women's final, now set for Saturday night.

USTA officials also outlined two possible scenarios for rainouts Saturday, confident in predictions of clear skies for Sunday and Monday.

If all matches are wiped out, the men's singles would be staged Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. local time (1700 and 2000 GMT) with the women's final staged at 9 p.m. Sunday night (0100 GMT).

That would push the men's final to 4 p.m. Monday.

Should the men's semi-finals be completed but the women's final rained out, one of the finals would be staged at 4 p.m. Sunday and the other would be played at 9 p.m. Sunday.

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