CHENNAI: The organisers of the Chennai Open at the SDAT Tennis Stadium were stuck in a Sisyphean loop on Sunday evening. With rains and firecrackers bursting through the night on the account of Deepavali, they did not have any breathing space. When it rained, it was about drying the court. But when it stopped raining, the firecracker bursting went up a level, bringing smog. Ironically, to bring that down, it needed to rain.
Considering that the city was hosting the event one last time for the foreseeable future, it was not the best of ways to conclude (Monday's final was suspended for 10 minutes due to excessive heat. With the final pushed a day later due to unfavourable conditions, the players and coaches made their frustrations clear.
Magda Linette, who went on to win the singles final on Monday, was perturbed by how the smog thickened after spells of rain the previous day. Her coaches inspected the court and were clearly indicating that it was not ideal for play. “We did not mind the crackers because of the noise but the pollution and the health hazards it caused,” she recalled after the match. She revealed that they agreed to call it off after a medical expert showed them the live reading of the city's Air Quality Index. (AQI).
According to aqi.in, the reading went as high as 1556. However, Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) said that it averaged at 178 as of 10pm (categorised under poor).
“When we saw the numbers, me and Janice agreed (to not play). First of all, we can’t put ourselves in this hazard. It is also not good for the ball boys, the officials and people watching,” she said. In her long and storied career, it was the first time that she witnessed a final being pushed further due to pollution.
Christopher Bint, coach of Linette’s opponent and 2025 champion Janice Tjen, had shared a video of the city covered in smog from their car on Sunday night, with a screenshot of the AQI reading. Tjen reposted Bint's video on Instagram. “And they still wanted the match to go ahead,” the text in the video read. And after the defeat in the final on Monday, Bint had cleared the air in what he meant by the statement. “We were prepared to play yesterday. But the final could have postponed it a little earlier than they did (match was called off at only 10pm),” Bint said. And like Bint, Linette also felt that the match could have taken place earlier on Sunday. “I think we should have played earlier when we knew there was going to be firecrackers bursting. While it is great to play on a holiday with a larger audience, the timings could have been planned better – with the doubles scheduled much earlier so we have a lot of time,” she said.
Considered all factors before calling off: TNTA CEO
Soon after the final was pushed back by a day, the Tamil Nadu Tennis Association (TNTA), one of the organisers, was under the scanner for the scheduling. According to Hiten Joshi, the tournament director and TNTA CEO, the WTA only had the window from November 2 to November 8 available and they had no choice but to go ahead with it. Joshi said that they considered all factors before the decision was made on Sunday. “The WTA supervisor (Sheetal Iyer) was looking to try to play as much as possible, because there are so many things to be taken into account: the people who come to watch, all the programs that's been already pre-arranged for a lot of people. We need to get permission from the WTA headquarters (in Florida, USA) in these situations. Of course, the player's safety is important, everything is important. It took some time because in all these waits, we always make the last attempt to play,” he said after the tournament concluded.
While Joshi said they were helpless with the window offered by WTA, he revealed that the rain factor was taken more into consideration than the Deepavali celebrations. “Our major concern was rain, more than the Deepavali, because if everything goes on time without any rain, then it would have worked. Sometimes, Deepavali here in Chennai is celebrated well and some years it is not. I thought this year was more than last year. But in previous years, it has come down a lot because even the children realise it (consequences of firecrackers). So, we have to deal with things as they come and not as we can assume," he said.