There was a complete washout at Roland Garros on Monday for the first time in 16 years.
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“She’s definitely an inspiration”, said Bacsinszky, who lost to Serena in last year’s French Open semifinals, “because if you see how long she is lasting as a tennis player, it’s something unbelievable”.
Continuing showers Tuesday pushed back the start of play, but eventually the rain became lighter, the tarps came off and there was action all around the grounds.
It has been 16 years since weather last rained out a whole day of play at the French Open.
That would be followed by defending champion Serena Williams in her delayed fourth-round match against 18th-seeded Elina Svitolina.
However, during the last three years, the French Open has been dogged by cool, overcast conditions with showery interludes.
She next faces American surprise packet Shelby Rogers, who backed up her stunning three-set victory over dual-Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova by defeating Romania’s Irina-Camelia Begu to reach her first Grand Slam quarter-final.
Radwanska finally managed to stop the downhill spiral when she broke in the fifth game but could not stop Pironkova from advancing to the quarterfinals. Williams slipped to her knees at the baseline on one point, and was generally out of sorts, managing to produce a total of only six winners, while committing 24 unforced errors. “Due to weather, there will be no matches played at #RG16 today”, said the tournament’s Twitter handle. “But that’s getting a little bit harder to do as the rounds get farther”. We hope to have the roof by 2020. “So being in quarterfinals again, it’s great”.
Wawrinka is the only man left in the bottom half of the draw who has reached the final, and should again reach the championship match where Novak Djokovic looks set to await. Sixth seed Simona Halep was due to resume at 5-3 in the first set versus fellow seed Samantha Stosur, but they will have to wait it out. Both of their matches were scratched Monday, delaying their respective searches for elusive titles.
Murray, a two-time major champion, has now won in straight sets twice in a row after needing five sets to get through each of his first two matches.
Second-seeded Andy Murray is now set to take on No. 9-seed Richard Gasquet on Wednesday.
If that happens, Murray will have enjoyed two days rest because he was safely able to advance to the quarterfinal round with his win over John Isner on Sunday.
“Lately I have been really converting those break points, but, you know, I have got to focus on the positives, I guess”.
“I have no words”, said Halep. “I was trying to just stay calm with myself, find my game all over the match”.
“Of course she’s the best player”, Putinseva said.
Defending champion Stan Wawrinka, the third seed, faces unseeded Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas, the world number 55, boasting a 6-0 career record. The 55th-ranked Ramos-Vinolas is in the quarterfinals of a major for the first time, having never made it past the second round in 18 previous Grand Slam tournaments.
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Of all the top seeds to exit the tournament during the early rounds, No. 5 seed Kei Nishikori is the only one to do so not of his own volition after the ninth-seeded Richard Gasquet ousted him fair and square.
