The US Open is about to follow the example set first by Melbourne and, from next summer, Wimbledon, by constructing a roof over the Arthur Ashe Stadium, the monstrous centrepiece of the year's final grand-slam tournament. Although there have been only nine sessions wiped out since the stadium was dedicated in 1997, it looks certain that a budget-busting $100million (about £56million) will be spent on covering the court.

In the aftermath of another horrible hash of the scheduling on Saturday when Tropical Storm Hanna dumped four inches of rain on New York in six hours, Arlen Kantarian, the chief executive of professional tennis at the USTA, unveiled the results of a third “Roof Feasibility Study” and said that he believes that the time has now come for change.

“Though it has been somewhat difficult to justify in the past, we believe we have reached a point where we have to seriously consider placing a roof over Ashe,” Kantarian said.

“A heavier, permanent roof would have necessitated going underground and because the stadium is built on swampland, we could not attempt that, so we are looking at a lighter-weight, translucent roof and we are very excited at the prospect. It is not a case of if any more, but when.”

A completion date of 2012 is expected. The Australian Open led the way with the construction of the Melbourne Park complex in 1988, with a retractable roof over the main show court, the Rod Laver Arena, to which the Vodafone Arena, which also has a roof, was added in 2000.

The Centre Court roof at Wimbledon will be in operation for next year's championships. It has been manufactured with approximately 5,200 square metres of waterproof fabric that will allow natural light to penetrate and should be capable of closing in about ten minutes.

As part of the project, the seating capacity on Centre Court will be expanded from 13,800 to 15,000 and those added seats will help to fund the roof, the cost of which has not been revealed by the All England Club, but has been estimated at between £50 and £100million.

Climate-control units - one of the more complex aspects of the project - will maintain the temperature with the roof closed at 75F (24C) with 50 per cent humidity, so that condensation does not form on the roof or the grass.

As the US Open men's final is scheduled to be played today - the first time since 1987 that an extra day has been required to complete the tournament - the timing of the announcement could not be more apt. Kantarian said: “We believe this tournament has now reached a point, given its growth, the number of fans, the countries it is televised in, when we have to have an insurance against this kind of thing happening.”

There is talk, too, of a reconstruction of the Louis Armstrong Stadium and Grandstand courts - the equivalent of No1 and No2 Courts at Wimbledon - which would alter the face of this complex for ever, and for the best.

The Wimbledon boys' champion, Grigor Dimitrov, the No3 seed from Bulgaria, collected the US title as well yesterday, defeating Devin Britton, of Mississippi, 6-4, 6-3. Dimitrov looks a sure bet to be a future top-20 player.