French Open chiefs fear 'disaster scenario' as rain set to affect Nadal, Konta, Federer

Play was abandoned for the day at the French Open just before 5pm local time after heavy rain in Paris.

The bottom half quarter-final match in the men’s and women’s draw were due to be played today but will now take place on Thursday.

It meant the likes of Novak Djokovic, Simona Halep, Madison Keys and Dominic Thiem faced a day of frustration as they waited to see if their matches could be played.

Those last eight matches will now take place on Thursday with the semi-final between Johanna Konta and Marketa Vondrousova moved to Friday.

The women’s semi-finals were due to be played on Thursday with the men’s on Friday then the women’s final is set for Saturday and the men’s on Sunday.

But with further rain forecast on Friday, the schedule could be facing further changes and the possibility of a Monday final.

Back in 2012, Rafael Nadal beat Novak Djokovic in a Monday final after it was held over.

“We saw that historically we can play men’s finals on Monday,” Forget said.

“We remember the final between Djokovic and Nadal [in 2012]. We can think of the same thing for women in terms of disaster scenario.

“That’s not what we want to do. But as you said, some girls might be playing three days in a row. First of all, it’s a very difficult task for one or two of them.

“Most of these girls have been waiting all of their lives to play such a big match, and to actually be playing a match of that magnitude with already two matches in their legs is a difficult task. If we have to move the final the following day, you know, it’s something that could happen.”

With the prospect of having to play Thursday, Friday and then a final on Sunday, world No 1 Djokovic is at a major disadvantage.

And ESPN analyst Patrick McEnroe told Forbes that Djokovic and the other men’s players in the bottom half face a tough stretch.

“We need to see how matches play out the next two days, but the first thing I thought was this could be a huge disadvantage for the top half of the draw finalist,” McEnroe said.

“That player will have to play three physical best-of-5 matches on clay in four days.”

source: express.co.uk