French Open gets off to chilly and damp start

PARIS, September 27

Gone are the queues of spectators and gone is the sun as the French Open kicked off in underwhelming fashion today with persistent drizzle and a chill wind sweeping the almost-empty Roland Garros grounds. Play started on court Philippe Chatrier under the new retractable roof but matches were suspended on the other two main courts — Suzanne Lenglen and Simonne Mathieu — after 15 minutes.

Frosty Azarenka

Former world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka complained about the playing conditions amid light drizzle and low temperatures during her 6-1 6-2 first-round victory. The US Open runner-up, who entered court Suzanne Lenglen wearing a thick pink puffer jacket, and her opponent Danka Kovinic walked off the court after play was suspended with Belarusian Azarenka leading 2-1. “No, it’s eight degrees, I live in Florida, I’m used to hot weather,” a furious Azarenka told the supervisor who asked her to wait on court until a decision was made on whether the match should continue. Speaking to her opponent from Montenegro, 10th seed Azarenka said: “Do you want to wait on court?

“No,” Kovinic replied.

“No, it’s ridiculous, it’s too cold. What’s the point? Sitting here like ducks,” said Azarenka, who wore a wind jacket on court and said she was worried about sliding on a court made heavier by the persistent drizzle.

The players returned after a delay of about 50 minutes and Azarenka immediately broke her opponent’s serve before wrapping up victory in front of nine spectators.

Azarenka said the interruption should have been better managed. “I think it’s very tricky at the moment to have these conditions. So definitely not going to sit here and complain, but sometimes I think there are smarter ways to handle situations. The unfortunate part sometimes with the French Open is that there is no communications with players or players council,” she added.

Deserted

Around the grounds, walkways normally thronged with fans were almost deserted as the small groups of ticket holders milled around aimlessly. Some stewards wore rain boots as they waited to check credentials in front of the courts’ gates.

Most of the women players wore leggings to try to stay warm while the persistent drizzle and soggy balls had players chuntering.

“I think the first hour the conditions were a disaster because it was still raining, it was windy and really cold,” Italian veteran Andreas Seppi said after losing to Sebastian Korda. “I thought they should have postponed the match at least for one hour.”

The claycourt Grand Slam was moved from its usual May-June spot to September 27-October 11 amid the Covid-19 crisis and only 1,000 spectators are allowed on site each day after organisers had initially hoped to welcome 20,000 — about half the normal capacity. “I don’t know what I’m doing here, it’s freezing, I’m not sure I’ll see a lot of play today apart from those on central court,” said Yannick, a 22-year-old student who was among the few people to keep his ticket following a draw after the capacity was cut from 5,000 to 1,000 this week.

Rain is forecast at Roland Garros for the next 10 days.

The tournament is being held amid a resurgence of Covid-19 cases in France with players and guests being submitted to a mandatory coronavirus test before being sent to two hotels, which they can only leave to play at Roland Garros or practise in the neighbouring Jean Bouin stadium. — Reuters