Organisers at the US Open were facing the possibility of staging the men's final next Monday after persistent rain disrupted play for a third consecutive day at the final grand slam of the year.

The grounds crew works to dry off the court at Arthur Ashe Stadium at the US Open tennis tournament Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2003 in New York. [Reuters]

Constant drizzle on Wednesday at the hardcourt event washed out the day session, where only 10 minutes of play was possible.

But officials were still hopeful the two evening session matches would take place.

As night fell on a water-logged Flushing Meadows, organisers said they still hoped to complete the season's final grand slam on schedule.

But they conceded that if there were any further disruptions to play on Thursday, the tournament would spill over into a third week with a men's final on Monday.

Day 10 began in a steady drizzle and 106 matches on the schedule but by evening only two had not been postponed; fourth round encounters between American fourth seed Andy Roddick and Belgium's Xavier Malisse and eighth seed Rainer Schuettler of Germany and 12th seed Sjeng Schalken of the Netherlands.

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