RAISING A STORM
Stars’ fury after being forced to play in rain on ‘impossible’ courts
THIS Grand Slam of woe descended into acrimony yesterday when beaten players hit out at being made to play in the appalling conditions that have descended on the French Open.
The normally mild- mannered Agnieszka Radwanska (below) and Simona halep, seeded two and six respectively, hit out at tournament organisers after losing matches played in almost non-stop rain.
Others complained to umpires, with David Goffin and Ernests Gulbis virtually refusing to play on as they feared injury on courts transformed into near mudpits with skiddy lines across them.
Novak Djokovic was stranded at 4-1 up and a set all in his fourth round against Roberto Bautista Agut and Andy Murray failed to make a start to his quarterfinal against Frenchman Richard Gasquet. The depression settled over the French capital could yet see a postponement of the finals, with Serena Williams among those facing the prospect of having to play four days out of four already if she were to go all the way. It is turning into an annus horribilis for Roland Garros, criticised for its lack of a roof and the weather compounding the difficulties of extra security measures that have been brought in. The injury withdrawals of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and leading local heroes Gael Monfils and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga have turned out to be just the start. All they need now is the Maria Sharapova doping verdict to drop if and when the weather clears up. While halep accused the tournament of helping wreck her title chances, Radwanska was fuming after going down 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 to Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova, whose otherwise unspectacular career has previously been marked by some deep runs at Wimbledon.
‘I’m just so surprised and angry that we have to play in the rain,’ said the Pole. ‘I mean, it’s not a $10,000 tournament, it’s a Grand Slam. how can you allow players to play in the rain? I cannot play in these conditions. So I’m just p*****. I don’t think they really care what we think. I think they care about other things.
‘ I just cannot play in those conditions, I’m not healthy enough. I had hand surgery a few years ago and, for me, playing with those balls in that kind of court is pretty much impossible.’
halep, the 2014 runner-up and one of the favourites for the title, lost 7-6, 6-3 to Australia’s former US Open champion Samantha Stosur. ‘I cannot comment about the conditions, I have no words. It was impossible to play in my opinion,’ said the Romanian, who did not want to restart the match this morning in the first place.
‘No one cares about the players in my opinion. I don’t care that I lost the match today, but I was close to getting injured with my back — that’s a big problem.
‘I didn’t feel sure on court, safe on court.
‘The court was not good. The balls were wet, completely wet during the match. I felt some pain in my back, in my achilles. Sam was stronger and she played better today, and these conditions are good for her because she has a lot of top spin.’
Goffin and Gulbis became mutinous after the third game of their match and were hauled off, and Austrian Dominic Thiem pretty much downed tools against Spaniard Marcel Granollers.
Clay is not like grass in that the surface can take some rain without becoming dangerous. But it was notable that by happy coincidence Djokovic’s match was not called off until two hours were on the clock — at which point there is no obligation to give spectators any refund.
The Serb had looked all at sea in the first set, which 14th seed Bautista Agut took 6- 3, his normally immaculate footwork gone astray along with his focus.
But after a pep talk from his team he was a different player at the restart, eking out the second set 6-4.
Rescuing a dangerous situation to keep his hopes of a first Roland Garros title alive, the world No 1 had established a secure lead when play was finally called off in what varied from downpours to a haze of drizzle.
The weather is expected to improve today, and Djokovic ought to be able to finish the job. If he does it should be enough to make him the first man in tennis history to claim $100million in official tournament prize money.