Rafael Nadal bailed the United States Tennis Association out of just such a crisis by beating Novak Djokovic in four sets to win the U.S. Open men's singles title Monday night.
Most importantly, Nadal wrapped things up at 10:03 p.m. EDT -- 12 minutes before the match would have aired on its third different channel of the night. Had the match gone past 10:15 p.m., the conclusion would have aired on ESPN Classic, after starting on CBS and moving to ESPN2 after a rain delay.
The culprit was the weather in the New York area that not only caused a rain delay at Flushing Meadows in Queens, but also delayed the kickoff of the Jets-Ravens game at the Meadowlands in New Jersey.
The men's tennis final, which had been postponed from its customary Sunday afternoon perch, began as scheduled at 4 p.m. on Monday. Nadal and Djokovic battled for about two hours and into the second set on CBS before play was suspended because of rain.
Then, things got interesting. About 20 minutes into the delay, CBS officials elected to pass the conclusion of the match off to ESPN, and for good reason. Despite the fact that tennis appeals to an upscale demographic, the numbers of viewers wouldn't be large enough for network executives to ask their affiliates to give up local news and syndicated programming that make so much cash for stations as opposed to a niche sport.
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