Men's Open semis to start earlier

• Recommend0
• Tweet0
• Comments0
• Email
• Print

NEW YORK -- Hoping to avoid a fifth consecutive Monday finish, the U.S. Open is moving the start of the men's semifinals to an hour earlier than usual.

The tournament decided Friday that Saturday's play will begin at 11 a.m. ET, instead of noon, because of rain in the forecast.

Olympic champion Andy Murray faces 2010 Wimbledon runner-up Tomas Berdych in the first semifinal, followed by defending champion Novak Djokovic against fourth-seeded David Ferrer.

The U.S. Open is the only Grand Slam tournament that schedules two men's semifinals on Saturday. If those two matches aren't completed Saturday, the final can't be played Sunday and needs to be delayed a day -- which has happened at Flushing Meadows each of the past four years.

Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press

• Recommend0
• Tweet0
• Comments0
• Email
• Print
• Subscribe