The Aegon Championships has fallen victim to the British weather with rain severely disrupting proceedings on the first day of the tournament.
Scheduled to start at 12:30 with Richard Gasquet and Steve Johnson playing on the centre court, only ten games of action occurred in the first six hours of the tournament. The rain resulted in the cancellation of three doubles matches as well as a trio of singles match on the centre court featuring Paul-Henri Mathieu, Grigor Dimitrov and Marin Cilic.
Two qualifying match from Sunday was able to finish. South Africa’s Kevin Anderson edged his way past Jiri Vesely 7-6(2), 7-6(5). Meanwhile, Vasek Pospisil required two hours to see off Tobias Kamke 3-6, 7-5, 6-3.
With only one main draw match being completed at the Queen’s Club, organisers face the tough task of trying to fit them in tomorrow’s schedule and avoiding the elements. According to the UK met office, rain is likely to feature again on Tuesday with heavy downpours later in the day.
Due to the weather, Tuesday’s action will get underway earlier than usual at 11:30 AM. Centre court will open with Stan Wawrinka starting his grass-court campaign against Spain’s Fernando Verdasco followed by defending champion Andy Murray against Nicolas Mahut, who recently won the Ricoh Open. The packed-schedule will take place over five courts with the hope that all 15 first round matches will be completed on the same day.
The Queen’s Club is the latest tennis venue to be hampered by the rain. Last month the French Open was marred by numerous day’s of heavy rainfall, but still managed to finish the event on schedule. More recently two Sunday finals in Stuttgart and s-Hertogenbosch had to be moved to Monday due to the poor conditions.
Full order of play
Tuesday’s order of play at the Aegon Championships. Wawrinka first followed by Murray. pic.twitter.com/Xz4ez9wc9R
— Adam_Addicott (@tennisbanter) 13 June 2016
