Russian third seed Maria Sharapova may be thankful after rain forced her US Open quarter-final against Marion Bartoli to be postponed until Wednesday.
French 11th seed Bartoli raced to a 4-0 first set lead when the pair got on court following one of three rain delays at Flushing Meadows on Tuesday before more wet weather forced the pair off court once more.
Organisers then decided to postpone the match for a day to ensure the men’s fourth-round match between Andy Roddick and Juan Martin Del Potro could be played at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
It means world No.1 Victoria Azarenka will be forced to wait to find out her semi-final opponent after she ended Australian Sam Stosur’s title defence with a tense 6-1 4-6 7-6 (7-5) victory in the only women’s match that could be completed on the rain-marred day.
Azarenka has a winning record against both potential opponents, leading Sharapova 5-4 while her results against Bartoli are even better with an 8-3 record.
Wednesday’s other quarter-finals will send fourth seed Serena Williams, a 14-time grand slam champion, against Serbian 12th seed Ana Ivanovic and Italy’s 10th seed Sara Errani against 20th-seeded compatriot Roberta Vinci.
Sharapova, the 2006 US Open champion who completed a career grand slam by winning the French Open title in June, will return to second in the world rankings next week if she defeats Bartoli.
Azarenka avoided becoming the first US Open women’s top seed to crash out before the semis since Dinara Safina’s third-round exit in 2009.
No women’s top seed has won a grand slam title since Williams at Wimbledon in 2010 and no US Open women’s top seed has taken the title since Justine Henin in 2007.