Meddling with the competition schedule for a television ratings boost, the US Tennis Association decided to delay the US Open quarter final between Venus Williams (picture right) and Jelena Jankovic to tomorrow.Reigning Wimbledon champion Williams and Serbian third seed Jankovic would normally play today, the same day US eighth seed Serena Williams and world number one Justine Henin meet in the other quarter final from their bracket.Instead, Australian Open champion Serena and French Open champion Justine will meet today as planned while Jankovic and US 12th seed Venus play a day later, giving the winner one less rest day than their foe in Friday’s semi-final.Both Jankovic and Venus Williams approved the plan, which would put their match on Arthur Ashe Stadium at night 24 hours after the Serena-Henin showdown. “We would never have made this decision without talking to the players first,” said tournament spokesman Chris Widmaier. “Both of the players not only liked it, they encouraged it. I don’t know if this has been done before. We’re checking to see if it is unprecedented.”Neither Henin nor Serena Williams were consulted about the move, which gives their rivals an extra day to prepare for each other, and a less hectic today that now offers a better chance to study their potential rivals in action.“They were not talked to,” Widmaier said. “We talked to the players who would be getting less rest. The switch likely means Jankovic will play in front of a jam-packed crowd cheering for six-time Slam winner Williams and not a lesser Tuesday afternoon audience playing at a time when many potential spectators are working.“We felt the Venus Williams-Jelena Jankovic match is more of a marquee match-up. We thought this was a good decision for the sport,” Widmaier said.It was certainly a good decision for the US television network showing the Grand Slam tournament, which was faced with a Wednesday devoid of women’s star power after Russian second seed Maria Sharapova was eliminated from the draw.The decision means Russian fourth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova’s match against Hungarian teen Agnes Szavay and Russian sixth seed Anna Chakvetadze’s match against Israeli 18th seed Shahar Peer will both be played early tomorrow.Asked if the switch would have been made had a player more attractive to US TV audiences been playing on the opposite half of the draw, Widmaier said: “That’s a good question. I can only talk about the conditions presented to us.”
