Rain has been a party crasher in Toronto, but also in Montreal, although the women’s portion of the tournament, so far, has suffer a little less than it masculine counterpart (Photo: Robert Laberge/Getty Images)
It spoiled many days in Wimbledon and at the Olympics, and now it’s crossed the Atlantic with the players to settle in Toronto and Montreal.
Apparently, rain likes tennis lately. The problem is that tennis doesn’t like rain, but not at all. If two of the Grand Slams have a roofed Centre court (and the Australian Open even has two courts with a roof), none of the outdoors Masters 1000 events do, except Madrid, which is played in an indoor facility, and Shanghai.
This means that at the moment, rain is spoiling the party in both Canadian cities where the Rogers Cup is held, Montreal for the ladies and Toronto for the men, and that there is no roof to compensate.
If, in Montreal, most of the singles matches had the chance to be played yesterday (only three singles matches were suspended before they finished), it was not the case in Toronto, where there has been rescheduling after rescheduling until, at last, all the singles matches were moved to today. The doubles matches, on the other hand, ended up being played in an indoor facility, and without spectators.
As it is, the situation is not set to improve, as the forecast for both cities is for rain and thunderstorms for all day today, and rain for tomorrow. There should be a little sun on Sunday.
If the situation continues, the Tournament Directors for both cities will be confronted to very important decisions, as the players are expected to be in Cincinnati come Monday, for the most part, except the first eight seeds who are sure not to start until Tuesday or Wednesday.
Will they move the tournament indoors for several singles matches, in order to catch up on the schedule? That is definitely an option to consider if rain persists.
A little fun with Nole
Novak Djokovic decided to delight the few fans who were waiting for the rain to stop (Photo: Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
His match being moved to the evening, Novak Djokovic decided, yesterday, to delight the handful of fans who were still waiting in the Stadium for the rain to stop.
Along with his hitting partner and friend, Dusan Vemic, he took the court, racquet in his right hand and umbrella in the left, to hit a few balls for the enjoyment of the few spectators still present.
You can watch a little of the moment here.
Let’s hope that he can ditch the umbrella soon and play a real tennis match.
And let’s hope Mother Nature complies a little. The tournament has already been marred enough as it is.
Recent Comments