The limited amount of play that was possible, in sparsely filled stadiums, left spectators frustrated and players unhappy about being asked to play in the most testing of conditions.
Even when it was not actually raining, the courts were so drenched that the balls quickly became wet and heavy.
“No one cares about the players,” Simona Halep said after falling to a surprise 7-6, 6-3 fourth-round defeat to Sam Stosur. “In my opinion it was impossible to play. To play tennis matches during the rain I think it's a bit too much.”
Agnieszka Radwanska, the world No 2, who also suffered a shocking defeat when she was beaten 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 by Tsvetana Pironkova, was equally critical of the tournament organizers. “I don't know who allows us to play in those kind of conditions,” she said. “I don't think they really care what we think. I think they care about other things, I guess. I'm just pissed off. I just cannot play in those conditions.”
After a delayed started and a first break for rain of nearly three hours, all four remaining men’s fourth-round matches were still on court when the players came off for a second time just before 5pm.
David Goffin and Ernests Gulbis appeared to be particularly unhappy with the conditions when they were called off Court One after only three games.
In the other matches Novak Djokovic was leading Roberto Bautista Agut 3-6, 6-4, 4-1, Marcel Granollers had just taken the second set against Dominic Thiem to tie the match at 2-6, 7-6, and David Ferrer was leading Tomas Berdych 2-1.
Both of the women’s fourth-round matches had been left unfinished on Sunday evening. Following Monday’s complete wash-out, they both produced remarkable turnarounds when they finally restarted.
Radwanska, who had beaten Pironkova in nine of their previous 11 meetings, had led 6-2, 3-0 at the start of Tuesday’s play, while Halep had been 5-3 up in the opening set against Stosur.
The Pole and the Romanian join Angelique Kerber, Victoria Azarenka and Roberta Vinci among the top women players who have failed to live up to their seeds here.
Although clay is Radwanska’s least favoured surface, the 27-year-old was regarded by many as one of the favourites here. Having dropped to No 15 in the world rankings last summer, she has climbed back to No 2 after a year of consistent performances.
However, in the cold and damp conditions – the temperature was just 14C when play started - she was troubled by a problem with her right hand, on which she had surgery a few years ago. Having begun the day just three games short of victory,
Radwanska lost the first 10 games before finally getting back on the scoreboard when trailing 4-0 in the deciding set, having just taken a medical time-out for treatment to her hand.
Pironkova, the world No 102, had never previously gone beyond the third round here. The 28-year-old Bulgarian had previously recorded her best Grand Slam results at Wimbledon, where she reached the semi-finals in 2010 and the quarter-finals the following year.
“I had hand surgery a few years ago, and for me playing with those balls on that kind of court is pretty much impossible,” Radwanska said afterwards. “It shouldn't be like this. We shouldn't play in that kind of rain. Why? We still have a couple of days of tournament. What's the point?”
She added: “The ball gets so heavy after a couple of shots. It's slippery, as well. Everything just gets harder. What can you do? It gets worse and worse every game.”
Halep, the runner-up here two years ago, had shown a long-awaited return to form earlier this month when she won the Madrid title, having beaten Stosur for the loss of only two games in the semi-finals.
The former world No 2 won her first two matches here in straight sets, but she had been taken the distance by Naomi Osaka in the previous round and was soon in trouble against Stosur, who broke when the Romanian served for the set at 5-4 and went on to win the tie-break 7-0.
In the second set the 32-year-old Australian needed only one break, in the opening game, to secure one of her best victories in recent years. The former US Open champion has struggled of late but is now through to her first Grand Slam quarter-final for four years.
She has performed well on clay in the past, having finished runner-up to Serena Williams here in 2010 and reached the semi-finals in 2009 and 2012.
Simona Halep, who said that Stosur had been the better player and deserved to win, said she had felt in danger of hurting her back in the difficult conditions. “I didn’t feel safe on court,” the 24-year-old Romanian said. “The court was not good.
The balls were wet, completely wet during the match. I think it's too difficult to play tennis in these conditions. I felt some pain in my back and in my Achilles.”
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