Rain wreaks havoc on U.S. Open

The start of play was delayed 3 1/2 hours, giving sleepy-eyed fans extra time to recover after watching Andre Agassi finish off his first-round win at 12:30 a.m. EDT.\nTwo weather-related suspensions left the courts empty by late afternoon, and a shaky forecast put in jeopardy night matches involving Maria Sharapova and James Blake. All eight men's doubles matches were postponed, and a remembrance of Hurricane Katrina on the one-year anniversary was pushed back to today.\n"It can be tough when you're waiting around all day," said 13th-seeded Mary Pierce, still waiting to begin her match against Elena Vesnina of Russia. "Sometimes you have to be ready in 20 minutes after you've been waiting for hours."\nThe top-seeded Mauresmo won her opening set against unheralded Kristina Barrois 6-1 but was trailing 2-5 in the second when play was halted for a second time.\nMauresmo was hoping to add a third Grand Slam title this year, having won the Australian Open and Wimbledon. Barrois was making her U.S. Open debut and had said her goal was to move into the top 100.\nOnly a few thousand fans were in Arthur Ashe Stadium when that match began. Those sitting in the upper deck were allowed to move down to the lower, pricey seats -- that didn't stop them from booing, however, when play was stopped.\nHewitt, the 2001 U.S. Open champion, and Albert Montanes were tied at 5 in the first set when it was suspended. That came right after Hewitt's right foot slid on the slippery baseline.\nNo matches came close to completion. The nine that were in progress were to be picked up -- whenever -- at the point they were stopped.\nOther players who managed to get on court included 2004 French Open champion Anastasia Myskina, up-and-coming French teen Gael Monfils and Americans Meghann Shaughnessy and Jamea Jackson.\nThe U.S. Open's official Media Operations Guide said a session must be called by 5 p.m. if play does not start. Once it begins, it's up to tournament officials. The cutoff for the night session was 9:45 p.m.-- the last time an entire session was called off at the Open was 2004.\nWith so many matches running behind, the practice courts were jammed. Often, four players shared the same surface, simultaneously keeping two balls in play by hitting to the opposite corners.\n"There's not much you can do, and there's not a lot of places you can go," Pierce said. "I just try to stay in the locker room and make sure that I drink, that I eat, rest, take naps, read."\n"It's good training for your patience," she said.