Thursday Preview And Order Of Play

It was a rain-soaked day in Flushing today, halting play until the evening hours, when the clouds subsided long enough to allow a few matches to get underway.

The ladies quarterfinals were wrapped up, but the men were not as fortunate, as the rain returned and play was suspended.

Roger Federer and Andre Agassi will resume their match tomorrow as will Tim Henman and Dominik Hrbaty.

Luckily, the rain will not affect Andy a great deal since he was off today. His plan is right on schedule.

He is slated to take the court in another night match on Ashe Stadium Thursday first on with a 7 PM start. He will take on Joachim Johansson, the No. 28 seed from Sweden.

Andy and Joachim have only met once previously, with Andy winning the enounter, which took place during the quarterfinals of San Jose, in straight sets, 6-3, 7-6. Andy, of course, went on to win the tournament and earn his first title of 2004.

Johansson has been a much-talked about player on the circuit this year. He made headlines earlier this year when he won Memphis, dispatching Nicolas Kiefer in the final.

The season slowed down for the 6″ 6″” Swede until the summer hardcourt season, where he played throught the draw to reach the quarterfinals of the TMS Toronto, where he went out to fellow countryman Thomas Johansson.

So far, Joachim has downed Stefan Koubek and Michael Llodra on his way to the quarterfinals, perhaps a less-challenging path than Andy, who has faced two seeds as well as Rafael Nadal to earn his quarterfinal berth.

The true test will come tomorrow as the two 22-year-old righties take to the court. Both players will have something to defend tomorrow night. Andy is the current US Open champion, and Johansson is attempting to reach a career-best semifinal appearance, having experienced a first-round exit last year in his debut.

Let’s hope that the whether cooperates and that the only sounds of thunder are those coming off of Andy’s racquet.