Rain, rain, go away; players embrace U.S. open roof plans

Serena Williams of the U.S. hits a return ball to Eugenie Bouchard of Canada at the Women's Cincinnati Open tennis tournament in Cincinnati, Ohio August 14, 2013. REUTERS/John Sommers II

CINCINNATI (Reuters) - The world's top players were in almost unanimous agreement on Wednesday that plans to build a retractable roof over centre court at Arthur Ashe Stadium as part of major changes to the U.S. Open venue was necessary.

Bad weather has routinely played havoc with the U.S. Open schedule in recent years with the men's final being pushed to Monday from Sunday for each of the past five years.