Rain has played havoc with the US Open program, sparking fear of a fifth consecutive Monday men’s final and reviving the debate over putting a roof on at least one US Open stadium.

More rain delayed the start of play on Wednesday after washing out much of Tuesday’s program at the season’s final Grand Slam tournament on the Flushing Meadows hardcourts.

This marks the seventh year in a row that rain has caused major disruptions with showers forcing delays that have pushed the event to an extra day since 2008.

A chance of rain is in the forecast into the weekend and if organisers can’t finish three men’s fourth-round matches on Wednesday, one men’s finalist would have to finish four matches in four days to have the tournament end on time.

At the other three Grand Slams, the Australian Open and Wimbledon both have courts with retractable roofs while the French Open will follow suit by 2016.

US Tennis Association (USTA) officials announced a $US500 million ($A490 million) renovation plan in June without a roof, claiming to do so was too costly on 23,700-seat Arthur Ashe Stadium.

USTA chief executive Gordon Smith said on the eve of this year’s event there are no plans to put a roof on Arthur Ashe Stadium, but it may happen once the technology is available.

“I cannot tell you when that will be. I can’t tell you what it will cost, though it will clearly be over nine figures,” he said.

“The amount of money we’ve lost by not having a roof and the amount of money we might make by adding a roof is negligible compared to the cost of adding a roof.”

Last year, Rafael Nadal was joined by Andy Murray and Andy Roddick in complaining that players were being rushed onto rain-battered courts in a move they claimed was putting profits ahead of player safety.