NEW YORK -- On Wednesday night, rain poured through the cracks in the roof at Louis Armstrong Stadium, interrupting play at the US Open's second round.
Flushing Meadows' only two courts that can be covered in bad weather are Louis Armstrong Stadium and Arthur Ashe Stadium. But even that was a problem as wind helped push the rain through the space between Armstrong's retractable cover and Armstrong's concourse. The stadium became completely saturated after two hours of continuous rain, which halted play on the show courts.
ESPN analyst Darren Cahill documented the events through a series tweets.
Two-time major finalist Kevin Anderson was stopped by Diego Schwartzman, who was leading 7-6 (4). The match resumed at Ashe after Stefanos Tisipas' 6-3 and 6-4, 66-7 (4) win over Adrian Mannarino.
Schwartzman won 7-6 (4) and 6-3, 6-4 to reach round three. Play ended just before 1 a.m. on Thursday.
Anhelina Kalinina and Angelique Kerber were originally set to face Anderson and Schwartzman on Armstrong. The match was postponed to Thursday.
Schwartzman was not interested in this scenario.
"I was ready for play and I wanted [Wednesday] to be over. Not [Thursday]. He said, "You never know what could happen."
Louis Armstrong Stadium holds 14,000 people. It was renovated with a naturally ventilated roof in preparation for the 2018 US Open.
Flash flood and tornado warnings were issued Wednesday night to those in attendance. If you need to flee an area that is under evacuation orders or subject to flooding, do not travel. As the rain continued to fall, spectators began to hide under umbrellas and left the tennis center.
Subway stations and tracks were so inundated that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority suspended service. New York City also imposed a travel ban for all non-emergency vehicles until 5 a.m. on Thursday.
New York Governor. Kathy Hochul declared a state emergency to assist New Yorkers affected tonight by the storm.
The National Weather Service measured 3.15 inches of rain in New York City's Central Park in just one hour. This was far more than the 1.94 inches recorded during Tropical Storm Henri, which was at that time believed to be the highest rainfall ever recorded in the park.
This report was contributed by The Associated Press.
