NEW YORK _ Saved by retractable roofs on its two show courts, the U.S. Open on Wednesday was able to produce a measly total of nine completed matches in the combined day/night sessions. The other 59 scheduled outside Arthur Ashe and Louis Armstrong stadiums all were rained out.
"Very happy that we have two covered stadiums now," women's No. 10 seed Madison Keys said, "and that I was scheduled in one of them. Definitely very happy about that."
Keys, the Open's 2017 runner-up and 2018 semifinalist, played in the rebuilt Armstrong, which debuted with a roof last year. And she made quick work of China's Zhu Lin, ranked 122nd, 6-4, 6-1.
Keys needed only an hour and nine minutes to finish her work, and insisted she is looking no farther ahead than Friday's third round. She certainly was aware that Sloane Stephens, who defeated Keys in the 2017 final here, had been upset in the Tuesday night's first round by 20-year-old Russian qualifier Anna Kalinskaya.
The only other women's day-session matches completed Wednesday were Venus Williams' loss to No. 5 seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine, 6-4, 6-4 _ also in Armstrong _ and No. 3 seed Karolina Pliskova's 6-1, 6-4 romp over German qualifier Mariam Bolkvadze. That was played in Ashe, which has had a roof since 2016.
"I guess I'm playing the level I am," said Pliskova, the 2016 runner-up to Angelique Kerber and a semifinalist at this year's Australian, "because I'm not going to give up on any point and I want to play every point prefect. Which I know is not possible."
Men's No. 7 seed Kei Nishikori of Japan, also in Armstrong, eliminated American Bradley Klahn, ranked 108th, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5. Nishikori planned to scout his possible next opponent later in the day, but the Christian Garin-Alex de Minaur match was rained out.
