The weather has been wonderful for nine days, but don’t look at the forecast. It’s calling for a chance of rain today, tomorrow, Friday and Saturday.

Eep.

In 2014, by which time the folks at Roland Garros will have finished building a new center court with a retractable roof, the U.S. Open will be the only Grand Slam without a roof.

And how do the players feel about the roofless Ashe? They were asked at a press conference before the Open began. Apparently, they love it.

Dinara Safina: It doesn’t rain so often here, so I don’t think they should change something.

Andy Murray: I don’t think it’s necessary really to have a roof. There’s only normally a couple of days during the tournament where there is some bad weather.

Serena Williams: I think it would be kind of hard to add a roof on this wonderful stadium, so I think we’re fine. You know, historically we’ve done well, and you know, it will be just kind of weird to put a roof on Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Andy Roddick: I think it’s a rarity that it gets backed up enough to where it becomes a real problem. Plus then when would we watch Connors and Krickstein again? 

There was only one player in favor of the roof.

Roger Federer:  Last year, was it a Monday final? Yeah, it was. Those are just things that are unpredictable, and with a roof you can make it more predictable for fans, sponsors, TV, for players. You know, that’s why it’s a good thing to have. That’s why I’m obviously for it. I think especially in America we have so many wonderful stadiums, I mean, you figure it’s kind of normal that they would be taking the lead with something like this.

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