Pierce ousted after four days

TENNIS / US Open: Rain returned to the US Open yesterday to halt play after just 15 minutes at Flushing Meadows.

But the small break in the weather was just enough to allow seventh seed Anastasia Myskina to complete a 7-6 6-1 win over Mary Pierce in a match that had stretched over four days due to persistent rain delays.

The hardcourt slam had earlier burst into life when play got under way on several courts following a four-hour rain delay.

With organisers trying to clear a huge backlog of matches created by four days of persistent rain, Wimbledon champion Roger Federer and 13th seed David Nalbandian of Argentina were first on Arthur Ashe court for their fourth-round contest. But before the crowd had time to settle into their seats, the match was halted with Federer leading Nalbandian 3-2.

Australian Lleyton Hewitt, champion in 2001, and Paradorn Srichaphan were well into the warm-up before the rain started to fall again. The Thailand star leads their clash 4-3.

Under clearing but still threatening skies, Japan's Ai Sugiyama and Italy's Francesca Schiavone also stepped on court in an attempt to finally finish their marathon fourth-round match which began on Monday.

Play resumed at 2.45 p.m. local time with women's 15th seed Sugiyama leading 7-6 5-4.

But they were unable to finish the match as Schiavone earned a break to force a third set. Sugiyama claimed a 2-0 lead in the decider before the match was yet again suspended.

Even as conditions improved, problems continued to mount for beleaguered organisers as the Grandstand showcourt was deemed unplayable for the first match of the day because of a problem with water seepage.

Only five singles matches have been completed since Monday forcing officials to consider holding the men's final on Monday, September 8th.