The inability to play under cover, with Roland Garros being the only one of the four grand slam venues that does not have a court with a retractable roof, certainly proved costly for Agnieszka Radwanska and Simona Halep – fourth-round losers in the only two matches that were completed.
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Radwanska dropped 10 consecutive games while being beaten 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 by 102nd-ranked Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria.
Stosur admitted the lengthy rain delays and conditions were far from ideal, but said she was pleased with how she was able to overcome them to secure a quarterfinal berth.
“It’s not a (lower tier) tournament”.
No.21 seed Sam Stosur is back into the semifinals of the French Open for the first time since 2012 with her win against surprise quarterfinalist Tsvetana Pironkova. “And to play tennis matches during the rain I think it s a bit too much”, said Halep. They’re good players. If Pironkova wins 10 straight games against Radwanska, she isn’t having her best match.
“Sure. Why not? I don’t think age is a factor that much anymore”. “It was impossible to play, in my opinion”, she said. “I don’t care that I lost the match today, but I was close to [getting] injured with my back, so. that’s a big problem”.
Second seed Radwanska said she was “angry” about being forced to play while Halep accused organisers of ignoring player welfare.
Asked why she thought tournament officials pushed play to continue on court, Halep nodded to the four days in a row of rain-interrupted play.
Stosur, on the other hand, takes the cake on tour as the most muscular woman not named Serena.
Pironkova won 12 of the final 15 games after struggling in the first set, booking her first-ever quarter-final spot in the process.
Monday was the first day entirely wiped out by wet weather at the French Open since May 30, 2000.
Spanish veteran David Ferrer blasted the French Open as a “rip-off” on Wednesday as the controversy over forcing players to compete in the pouring rain rumbled on. Four women’s fourth-rounders – including two involving the Williams sisters – never started at all, nor did two men’s quarterfinals.
Berdych said organisers were responding to a tight schedule after the claycourt grand slam suffered its first washout in 16 years on Monday followed by just two hours of play on Tuesday.
“I have no words”, she said after the loss. “In my opinion it was impossible to play”. But under those hard conditions in Paris on Tuesday, Halep looked a totally different player who was unable to solve the Stosur riddle. I didn’t feel safe. Like Radwanska, the Romanian also expressed her complaints about the conditions during the match.
As clouds darkened and rain threatened to return, Stosur was able to ice the quarter-final by fighting back from 1-5 in the tiebreak.
Gulbis led Goffin 3-0 in the first set on Court One when play was eventually halted but not before Goffin had complained over the conditions which he claimed were too risky. Yeah, I’m just gonna go and play.
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Top-ranked Novak Djokovic takes on 14th-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut in the first match on Court Philippe Chatrier, playing for a place in the quarterfinals.
