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Women's final delayed by rain in New York

07/09/2008

The US Open women's final between Jelena Jankovic and Serena Williams has been delayed by 24 hours due to heavy rain in New York.

Jankovic and Williams were due to fight it out for the trophy, with the winner also being crown world number one, on Saturday night but will now face each other on Sunday night – the traditional spot of the men's final.

The knock-on effect means Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray will try and finish their semi-final in the men's draw before the women's final starts.

Williams says she does not mind when the final is played and is eager to get the chance to compete for the title she last won in 2002.

She said on Friday after her semi-final: "I don't know if we'll play tomorrow, but I'm ready to play tomorrow.

"Hopefully we can. If not, I'll be ready for Sunday, Monday, Tuesday... doesn't matter."

Jankovic is in her fist grand slam final having failed in four previous semi-finals. The Serbian says her struggles have been down to injury problems but now feels in a position to win the title.

She explained: "I wasn't thinking about, you know, tennis. I was thinking, 'Oh my God, this is hurting. This is bothering me.'

"So I was really struggling and really not playing my tennis and not thinking about my game."

Jankovic says Williams' power will be hard to combat but insists "it will be difficult, but it's doable".

Williams says she plans to enjoy the experience and has nothing to lose I the final.

She said: "I'm going against someone that's ranked higher than me. She has a lot of pressure to win her first grand slam, and I'm just enjoying every moment."

If Williams wins it will be the ninth grand slam title of her career and her third US Open.