With the washout of play on Tuesday, the game plan was this: play all the fourth round on Wednesday, first thing, then play the men’s quarterfinals late in the day.  The rain stopped enough around noonish that 3 of the 4 men’s matches were started.

On slate were Roddick vs. Ferrer, Muller vs. Nadal, and Murray vs. Young.

The first controversy came up with Nadal vs. Muller.  Muller was ready to go on court, but Nadal didn’t come out to play until about ten minutes later.  Apparently, Nadal likes to get taped up as late as possible, and he was told very late on that they would be on court, so as he prepared, Muller had to wait.  Muller apologized to the ESPN guy and also to Muller as they headed to court.  Similarly, Donald Young also came out later than Andy Murray.  Many said this was due to botched timing and how long it would take each player to get ready to play.

The players played only 3-4 games each.  Muller started the match on his own serve, broke Nadal, and held to 3-0 before play was suspended.  Murray and Young each held serve, and Murray lead 2-1.  Roddick got an early break on Ferrer, and lead 3-1 before it rained.

After play was suspended, Nadal, Murray, and Roddick went to the tournament supervisor to complain about the bad conditions on court, saying it was still wet even as they went on court.  Nadal complained that the players weren’t “protected”.

This lead the ESPN crew to complain how players have little say in how the Slams are run.  The ATP, which isn’t a union, controls all men’s tour events except the Slams, which are controlled by the ITF.  There was some call for a tennis commissioner, although Chris Fowler, a tennis commentator on ESPN said the commissioners of other American sports weren’t that popular.  The thinking was that such a person would not exist for some time given the number of people involved in these events.

It’s past 4:30 now, and the hope was to complete the fourth round matches.  Quarterfinal matches have been suspended as the expectation is more rain in the evening.  Tournament organizers are still aiming for a Sunday finish, but this might involve players playing 4 matches in 5 days or, worse gets to worst, 4 matches in 4 days.