Rain Wrecks Havoc On USO

Rain caused the suspension of the Nadal-Gonzalez quarterfinal Thursday evening. The weather was worse today and caused the tournament to cancel play. Now, the Open is looking to finish the final quarterfinal tomorrow. The final has already been pushed to Monday.

Poor Rafa. This is the third grand slam where Nadal gets caught in rain delays. It happened in Wimbledon 07, US Open 08 and now US Open 09. Now, “Mr. Goat” gets to patiently rest to play him.

At Wimbledon 07, Nadal had to play every day during the second week because of the weather, and Federer received almost a week off after he played early and Haas pulled out of his fourth-round match. The Spaniard still made it to the final and almost beat him if it was not for his knees.

So when our crack "sports analysts" get on air and lecture Nadal about playing too much, they should first look at some of these tournament schedules. Nadal has been continually been on the short end of the scheduling -- and do not get me started on the draws. It has become ridiculous and unfair not to just Nadal, but to the other players. It was after Wimbledon 2007 where I became turned off by Federer because I felt he was being propped up by the scheduling at the tournaments.

Nadal will be at a great disadvantage should he make it to the final. If Federer wins the title, everyone will pretend that is was great skill when it is really that he is just better rested than the other players. Remember he was the only male player to play before the women’s match at night, which was pretty bold.

(Image: AP)