U.S. Open alters Monday night schedule to get matches in before rain

The Andy Murray and Milos Raonic match, originally scheduled to begin around 9 on Ashe, was moved up to just after 7 ET while the doubles match with the Williams sisters was moved to Armstrong.

With rain threatening New York for the second straight evening and a free show court available thanks in part to Roger Federer's walkover win against Mardy Fish, the U.S. Open has shuffled around the start times and locations for the evening session.

Originally it was scheduled that the doubles match of Venus and Serena Williams against Maria Kirilenko and Nadia Petrova was going to start the evening session on the court in Arthur Ashe Stadium while the men's match between Marin Cilic and Martin Klizan finished on Armstrong, leaving No. 3 Andy Murray vs. No. 15 Milos Raonic to be the nightcap.

But with the Armstrong court free and rain a possibility, the doubles match was relocated to Armstrong and the Murray/Raonic tilt will now begin just after 7 on Arthur Ashe.

Without moving the matches, we were looking at the possibility of another very long night at the Open. On Sunday night/Monday morning a combination of a three-set match between Maria Sharapova and Petrova and then a rain delay meant the final match of the evening on Ashe didn't begin until after 11 p.m. To compound it, John Isner and Philipp Kohlschreiber played a full five sets. When Kohlschreiber upset the American the time was 2:25 a.m., tying the match for the latest finish in U.S. Open history.