NEW YORK — Play was suspended due to rain during the third set of the U.S. Open quarter-final between second seed Simona Halep of Romania and former world number one Victoria Azarenka of Belarus on Wednesday.
Azarenka, now ranked 20th after struggling with injuries, was narrowly leading 3-6 6-4 2-1, with Halep serving at 40-15 in the fourth game of the third set when a light rain began falling, causing slick conditions on the hardcourt.
A threatening forecast of stormy weather had earlier caused organizers to move up the scheduled men's singles quarter-final between second seed Roger Federer and France's Richard Gasquet by an hour to 7 PM ET/2300 GMT).