Radwanska, Halep out as rain wreaks Paris havoc
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YES, they actually managed to complete a match on this wettest of weeks at the French Open. Two, even. And both involved surprises: Two of the top half-dozen seeded women lost within minutes of each other, No. 2 Agnieszka Radwanska and No. 6 Simona Halep.
Radwanska, the 2012 Wimbledon runner-up, dropped 10 games in a row and got treatment for a problem with her right forearm and hand while being beaten 6-2, 3-6, 3-6 by 102nd-ranked Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria in the fourth round in Paris yesterday.
Shortly before that, Halep exited with a 6-7 (0), 3-6 defeat against No. 21 Samantha Stosur in a contest between two past finalists at Roland Garros.
Pironkova is much better known for her abilities on grass than claycourts, and she reached her first quarterfinal at Roland Garros after getting that far twice at Wimbledon.
Their match originally began on Sunday, when Radwanska took the opening set and went ahead 3-0 in the second, just three games from victory, before play was suspended because of rain. They never made it back on court on Monday, when heavy showers wiped out an entire day of play at the French Open for the first time in 16 years.
It was barely better yesterday, when they began more than an hour later than scheduled because of more rain, played for about a half-hour, then were interrupted by a 2-1/2-hour delay before resuming again. Through it all, with the tennis balls heavier and slower than normal as action proceeded despite the occasional drizzle, Radwanska ceded the first 10 games they played yesterday and she never recovered.
The Stosur-Halep match also was suspended on Sunday during the first set. And 2011 US Open champion Stosur was better throughout yesterday, her big hitting able to withstand the conditions better than Halep’s spins and angles.
“It was really tough, obviously, with the start-stop and having a day off and everything,” said Stosur, who lost to Francesca Schiavone in the 2010 final.
She is into the quarterfinals in Paris for the fourth time.
Only four of the top 11 women seeds remain in the tournament: No. 1 Serena Williams, No. 4 Garbine Muguruza, No. 8 Timea Bacsinszky and No. 9 Venus Williams. Muguruza is already into the quarterfinals; the other three were scheduled to play in the fourth round yesterday.
Novak Djokovic’s fourth-round match finally got started yesterday, and he split the first two sets with 14th-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain as they also went on and off court.
Djokovic was leading 4-1 in the third when another delay arrived, also preventing play in fourth-round matches involving Tomas Berdych vs David Ferrer, David Goffin vs Ernests Gulbis, and Dominic Thiem vs Marcel Granollers.
If Djokovic and Bautista Agut were able to complete their match, it was scheduled to be followed in the main stadium by defending champion Williams against 18th-seeded Elina Svitolina of Ukraine.
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