David Goffin and Ernests Gulbis appeared to be particularly unhappy with the conditions when they were called off Court One after only three games.
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“Why should I step on it?”
“I’m just so surprised and angry, that, you know, we have to play in the rain”, said Radwanska, the No. 2 seed. “It was a very tough match, I’m just glad to get through”. “Like, ‘Go on. Go away.’ That was my feeling about this poor ladybug”.
Djokovic will be back in action on Thursday (Friday NZT) to contest his 28th successive major quarter-final against Czech seventh seed Tomas Berdych, a 6-3 7-5 6-3 victor over 2013 runner-up David Ferrer.
It was maybe five to 10 minutes of the entire stay of over 1.5 hours we had yesterday on court without rain. Thiem is 22, Goffin 25.
– Halep, upset that part of her loss was played while it was raining. What’s the point of this?’ The court won’t get better.
Granollers had twice benefited from withdrawals – with Frenchman Nicolas Mahut quitting midway through their second-round match, while Rafael Nadal pulled out before their third-round clash with a wrist injury – but he was tested to his limits by Thiem.
She has rubbed shoulders with Donald Trump, but Serena Williams seemingly won’t be voting for the presumptive Republican presidential nominee – because she doesn’t vote at all.
“The first few games she made some errors”, Williams said, “and in the last 12 games, I made all the errors”.
Williams, a Jehovah’s witness, adds “I don’t vote”.
Thursday’s forecast: Cloudy, with a chance of rain.
Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands made it four unseeded players in the women’s quarter-finals with a 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 win over American 15th seed Madison Keys.
In two bursts they were able to play for a minute over two hours, despite drizzle falling virtually throughout, and Djokovic led 4-1 in the third when finally the day was abandoned. In the victory, Thiem won 66 percent of his first serve points and 49 percent of his second serve points. She converted the first, when Navarro netted a backhand service return.
No. 21 seed Samantha Stosur ended the impressive run of unseeded Tsvetana Pironkova in her match, 6-4, 7-6(6).
Also on the day, the ninth seeded pair Xu Yifan and Zheng Saisai, the last Chinese in the French Open main draw, packed home after losing 6-2, 6-4 to Russia’ s Margarita Gasparyan and Svetlana Kuznetsova in the women’ s doubles quarterfinals.
One person who was there to witness the champion’s 6-1, 6-1 walloping of the Ukrainian was her former on-court rival, four-time champion Justine Henin. Djokovic briefly played in the rain on Tuesday and there was some concern when the rain delay left him tied with Agut at a set apiece.
French Open organizers haven’t had it easy this year.
Meanwhile, world number six Simona Halep, who suffered a shock 7-6 (0), 6-3 at the hands of Sam Stosur, echoed Radwanska’s sentiments and was just as frustrated about playing in unplayable conditions.
“Ultimately it’s the players the ones they care the least about in this tournament”.
Stat of the Day: 19 – Grand Slam semifinals reached by Murray. However it’s the top seed who has a poor start.
Serbia’s Novak Djokovic celebrates winning his fourth round of the French Open against Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut at Roland Garros, Paris.
Defending champion Serena plays No. 18 Elina Svitolina.
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Even when it was not actually raining, the courts were so drenched that the balls quickly became wet and heavy.
