The Australian Open is facing a scheduling disaster with almost half a day’s play lost due to Melbourne’s trademark four-seasons-in-a-day weather.
Both searing heat and torrential rain – described as a “mini-hurricane” by Nine host James Bracey – hit Melbourne Park during Tuesday interrupting dozens of Round 1 matches in the afternoon and then at night, as the tournament tried to play catch-up.
After a delay between 2pm and 5pm due to intense heat which reached over 37 degrees, 47 of the scheduled 64 matches were yet to be completed. When action was again halted at around 8pm, over 30 first-round clashes still needed to be played.
Watch Tennis Live with beIN SPORTS on Kayo. Live Coverage of ATP + WTA Tour Tournaments including Every Finals Match. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >
Tournament organisers eventually made a call after 9pm to cancel most women’s singles matches that were yet to be played, moving them to Wednesday (day three).
Other matches were moved onto different courts in an attempt to get them played before the day ended, in particular men’s matches, as to interrupt the draw as little as possible.
Six women’s matches – Daria Kasatkina v Varvara Gracheva, Beatriz Haddad Maia v Nuria Parrizas Diaz, Lucrezia Stefanini v Tatjana Maria, Sloane Stephens v Anastasia Potapova, Irina-Camelia Begu v Elizabeth Mandlik and Lucia Bronzetti v Laura Siegemund – were cancelled.
Other matches including Aussie Alexei Popyrin’s clash with Taiwan’s Chun-Hsin Tseng were relocated, with Popyrin swapped onto John Cain Arena following Alex de Minaur’s win over Yu Hsiou Hsu.
If the rain stays away, the 14 men’s matches left on the schedule could still be completed tonight, ensuring there are no unbalanced Round 2 matches where one player had a break and another didn’t.
As of 9:20pm local time the full Order of Play has not been released for Wednesday, with tournament organisers still needing to see which matches are completed on Tuesday night.
The cancelled women’s matches and any others which cannot be completed are expected to be played early on Wednesday.
Rain is forecast for Wednesday morning in Melbourne.
