Women's final postponed until tonight

Rain from Tropical Storm Hanna moves Williams-Jankovic title match

NEW YORK -- Serena Williams waited six years to return to the U.S. Open final. What's another day?

The title match between two-time champion Williams and first-time Grand Slam finalist Jelena Jankovic was postponed from Saturday until tonight because of heavy rain brought by Tropical Storm Hanna.

It's the first time since 1974 that the U.S. Open women's championship match was not played on a Saturday. That year, Billie Jean King beat Evonne Goolagong on Monday; Goolagong's semifinal had been suspended because of rain on Friday and wasn't completed until Sunday.

Williams-Jankovic originally was scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. Saturday, but about 3 1/2 hours before that, organizers announced they were shifting it. Eventually, the tournament announced play will start at 9 p.m. today.

It will be Williams' first U.S. Open final since 2002, when she beat older sister Venus.

After beating Dinara Safina in straight sets Friday in the semifinals, Williams was asked if she was concerned that forecasts were calling for rain Saturday.

"I don't know if we'll play tomorrow, but I'm ready to play tomorrow," Williams said Friday. "Hopefully we can. If not, I'll be ready for Sunday, Monday, Tuesday -- doesn't matter."

She is seeded fourth, Jankovic second, and the winner is assured of moving up to No. 1 in the rankings.

SCHEDULE SHIFTS LEAD TO CONFUSION: Dane Schlossberg saw police officers blocking the metal gates, heard other fans shouting obscenities and listened to crowds chanting outside Louis Armstrong Stadium.

Hardly what anyone would expect in the genteel world of tennis. The jumbled scene surprised Schlossberg -- in a totally different way.

"Actually, I thought it would be more chaotic," he said Saturday at the U.S. Open.

Trying to play two men's semifinals before Tropical Storm Hanna hit, tournament organizers shifted the schedule. So during the second set of the Roger Federer-Novak Djokovic match at 23,000-seat Arthur Ashe Stadium, they announced Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray would soon start next door at 10,000-seat Louis Armstrong Stadium.

All seats on a first-come, first-served basis.

Immediately, a couple thousand fans rushed down the ramps at Ashe for the 100-yard dash to Armstrong. Public-address announcements to "please take your time" were soon replaced by security guards yelling "slow down!"

Dev Sirur was among the first to stake out a decent seat for Nadal-Murray.

"We wanted to beat the stampede," he said. "We were sitting in the rafters at Ashe and I'm a Djokovic fan. But I wanted to see Nadal, too. At first when they said what was happening, we booed. But then when I got here, we got great seats. So it's OK."

No telling whether Nadal and Murray agreed. With the stadium just one-quarter filled, it easy to hear a pair of babies crying, an usher loudly ordering a fan to sit down and the music wafting over from Ashe.