CHENNAI: The second day of the Chennai Open got washed out due to persistent rain at the SDAT Tennis Stadium on Tuesday. Now, all the 16 singles’ matches will be played on Wednesday, starting from 11 am in four courts. (Centre court, court 1, 2 & 3).
This also includes the much-awaited all-Indian clash between Maaya Rajeshwaran and Shrivalli Bhamidipaty.
This is the first time Chennai, as a host of a tennis tournament, is witnessing two washed out days. The city first hosted the ATP Challenger series in September 1996.
Cyclone Montha intensified into a cyclonic storm on Tuesday morning, resulting in rainfall across the city. The revised order of play, accommodating Monday's matches, could not be followed due to incessant drizzles. Despite repeated efforts by court staff to sweep manually and with the scrubber-dryer machines, persistent drizzles meant that their efforts to clear were in vain.
As per the revised schedule for Wednesday, three doubles ties are planned, if the singles matches are completed on time. Tournament Director Hiten Joshi also hinted at the possibility of the same.
As per the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), the Cyclone is expected to cross the coast between Machilipatnam and Kalingapatnam in Andhra Pradesh as a severe cyclonic storm on the evening or the night of Tuesday. The forecast for Chennai seemed better for Wednesday. As per the latest IMD forecasts, the sky condition is likely to be partly cloudy with light to moderate rain likely in some areas of the city. It remains to be seen whether Nungambakkam is one of the said areas.
Order of Play (Select): Centre Court: From 11 am: A Lew Yan Foon vs L Fruhvirtova followed by Maaya R vs S Bhamidipaty followed by V Adkar vs D Vekic followed by Sahaja Y vs P Nugroho.