The French Open has been thrown into chaos on the first day of the qualifiers. Several matches have faced interruptions due to rain and have been delayed as a result. This includes the matches between Sinja Kraus and Celine Neaf, Ekaterine Gorgodze and Tamara Zidansek, Elizara Yaneva and Irina- Camilia Begu, Maja Chawalinska and Alice Rame, and finally the clash between Dan Evans and Daniel Jade.
The match between Evans and Jade was truly a unique one, as while the former is the oldest player in the men’s qualification draw at 35 years of age, the latter is the youngest at the age of 17. Jade had won the first set 6-4 before the rain suspended the match during the second set.
If the weather continues to interrupt matches, the tournament’s entire schedule will have to be adjusted. With a total of 256 players participating in the Grand Slam, both the organizers and the fans will be hoping that the matches conclude smoothly as the tournament progresses further.
It has been raining in Paris over the past few days, and it has even led to multiple matches being delayed or suspended during the recently concluded WTA 125 event. This includes the final between Madison Keys and Diane Parry that had to be stopped for hours due to the rain. The match was only in its first set with Keys trailing 2-3 when the action came to an abrupt halt.
Not just the players, but the fans also decided to leave the court as it continued to pour down for hours. The match was eventually resumed during the later hours of the day and saw Parry win the title after Keys was forced to retire in the second set due to a groin issue. The American was leading the match 6-3, 3-3, but physical issues denied her of her first singles title triumph this season.
There are still a massive number of French Open qualifying matches that are scheduled to take place later in the day. With light rain forecasted for the remainder of the day and on Tuesday as well, the Grand Slam can very well be off to a chaotic start.
Image Credits: Roland Garros/X
The reason behind rain interrupting so many matches all at once is due to the courts not having retractable roofs. Court Philippe-Chatrier and Court Suzanne-Lenglen are the only courts at the French Open that do have roofs installed. The roof at the Philippe-Chatrier was installed in 2020, while the roof at the Suzanne-Lenglen was installed in 2024. These two are the biggest courts at the Roland Garros with a capacity 15,000 and 10,000 respectively.
This is identical to Wimbledon and the US Open where only two courts have roofs. On the other hand, there are three courts that have roofs when it comes to the Australian Open. The Margaret Court Arena, Rod Laver Arena and John Cain Arena all have retractable roofs that are used whenever rain starts to fall in Melbourne.
Coming back, this isn’t the first time that the opening few matches of the French Open have been interrupted due to rain. Over the years, the weather has played a big role at the Grand Slam and rain has been a major issue, especially in the last few decades.
The French Open has been a victim of rain for years
Since 1993, the rain has disrupted play on 160 out of 487 tournament days. This means that rain has interrupted matches on 33% of the days. The record for rainfall was set in 2016 edition, a year when flooding had become a massive issue in Paris.
On May 30, 2016, 26.8 mm of rain fell on the courts between 10 am and midnight, forcing the cancellation of all matchesfor the day. On the other hand, the 2021 edition would prove to be one of the dryest of all time with just 2.4 mm of rain in total.
Over the years, rain has led to delays in two French Open finals. First was the men’s singles final between Ilie Nastase and Nikola Pilic in 1973 that had gotten postponed to the following Tuesday. Then, the 2012 men’s singles final between Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic reached a conclusion on Monday due to the heavy downpours in Paris.
The installation of roofs has proven to be beneficial as the men’s finals in 2022 and 2023 were only able to conclude smootly due to them. Additionally, the 2022 women’s singles final between Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff was also saved due to the presence of roofs.
Will the French Open organizers install roofs in more arenas in the coming years, or will rain interruptions continue to affect the opening few rounds of the tournament? Let us know what you think in the comments!
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