(See TENN GO for French Open news.) June 11 (Bloomberg) -- The French Open men's tennis final restartedafter an overnight rain delay with defending champion Rafael Nadalleading 2 sets to 1 over world No. 1 Novak Djokovic. Play was suspended last night because of rain, pushing the finalinto an extra day because of rain for the first time since 1973.Djokovic restarted with a serve at 1:13 p.m. local time, and wasbroken to even the set at 2-2. Spain's Nadal eased through the first two sets 6-4, 6-3 yesterday.After dropping the first two games of the third set, Djokovicturned the match around, winning eight games in a row to take hisfirst set off Nadal at Roland Garros and going up a break in thefourth. After Nadal held serve for 1-2, play was halted andeventually called off. Organizers initially said the match would resume at 8 p.m. lastnight. The crowd on the main Court Philippe Chatrier whistled andbooed when the tournament announced the postponement as raincontinued. The final started at 3 p.m. and was halted for a firsttime for 34 minutes at the end of the second set. Intermittent rainis forecast this afternoon at Roland Garros, according to thewebsite of Meteo Consult. Tournament director Gilbert Ysern told reporters it hadn't beenpossible to start the final an hour sooner because the forecastkept changing. He denied broadcasting contracts prevented the matchstarting earlier yesterday. "TV does not dictate anything," Ysern said. The clay-court tournament at Roland Garros has been hampered byrain in the past week. It's the first time since 1973 the event hasgone into a third week. In that year, Ilie Nastase beat Niki Pilicin a final that took place two days late because of bad weather. History Makers Unlike the Australian Open and Wimbledon, the French Open doesn'thave a court with a roof. A retractable cover and lights will bebuilt at its main stadium by 2017. Both Nadal and Djokovic have a shot at making history. Theright-hander from Serbia is now a win away from becoming the firstman in 43 years to win four Grand Slam titles in a row. Nadal istrying to become the first man to win seven Roland Garros titles. Watched by former champion and fellow Mallorcan Carlos Moya, Nadalstarted off well, going up a double break as he sent severalwinners past Djokovic, who struggled to get his first serve in. In the opening game of the second set, Djokovic once again handedNadal the break with a double fault as drizzle turned to rain. TheSpaniard failed to capitalize, losing his own serve on a lob by theSerb. Tantrums At 2-2, the crowd whistled as Djokovic threw his racket on the clayafter another error. A loud thud reverberated through the stadiumas Djokovic cracked a gaping hole in his bench with his racketafter he lost his serve in the seventh game on a Nadal forehandwinner. After he was given a warning by the chair umpire, play wassuspended because of rain as Nadal led 5-3. Djokovic slammed thedoor to the trainers' room shut before his coach Marian Vajda couldwalk in. Nadal used the break to have his racket re-strung. Matters didn't immediately improve for Djokovic after a 34- minuterain delay, during which his on-court green bench was replaced withnew one. Nadal took a two sets to love lead with a sliding backhandpassing shot. Momentum Swing In the third set, the match seemed over as Nadal took a 2-0 lead,only to let Djokovic back into the championship as he took the nextsix games with thumping ground strokes. The Spaniard complainedthroughout the third set to French chair umpire Damien Dumusoisabout the heavy court conditions, questioning whether play shouldcontinue. At the start of the fourth set, Nadal lost a 45-stroke rally with abackhand into the net as he was unable to put his customary spin onthe soggy balls, and he eventually dropped his serve. The Spaniardfinally held in the third game, ending a run of eight games forDjokovic. Play was suspended for a second time at 2-1 for the Serb,as Nadal angrily complained to tournament referee Stefan Franssonthat he should have acted sooner. "Now we have to stop, always the same with you," Nadal told theSwede. "Both players didn't have any comments about bringing them back onthe court, even if it was spitting a little bit, Fransson said. "Itold them that when they walked out. Then of course, Rafa wasdisappointed, not happy, whatever you want to say, when we stoppedin the fourth set." --Editors: Christopher Elser, Peter-Joseph Hegarty To contact the reporter on this story: Danielle Rossingh at RolandGarros at drossingh@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Christopher Elserat celser@bloomberg.net. I am an expert from chinaled-lights.com, while we provides the quality product, such as Led Spot Lamp Manufacturer , 3528 SMD Led Strip Light Manufacturer, Rigid Led Strip Light,and more.
Related Articles -
Led Spot Lamp Manufacturer, 3528 SMD Led Strip Light Manufacturer,
|