Dominic Thiem before semi-final decision: "The tournament is responsible for demolition"
For the second time at the Tennis French Open, which was affected by the rain, Dominic Thiem was relocated. After his quarter-final against Karen Khachanov was postponed from Wednesday to Thursday, the semifinals against world number one Novak Djokovic were broken off at 6: 2.3: 6.3: 1 for Thiem on Friday.
by APA
last edit: Jun 08, 2019, 11:36 am
"Break before the third set. I'm going into the match with a small advantage," said Thiem about his leadership in a short statement on Friday evening. "I have never played in so much wind. The tournament is responsible for the cancellation, so both players have to live with it."
After a second break in the rain, the organizers decided not to cover the place, even though the sun was shining for more than half an hour. The forecasts for the rest of the evening are so bad that you don't think about a sequel anymore. Thiem will start the "extension" on Saturday at 12 noon (in the tennisnet-LIVETICKER ) with his own surcharge.
That is a certain start advantage in the final for the twelve-time French Open finalist Rafael Nadal. The world ranking second from Mallorca had previously entered the final with a 6: 3.6: 4.6: 2 over the Swiss Roger Federer in stormy conditions. He will also fight for his twelfth title in Roland Garros on Sunday (3 p.m.). If you believe the weather frogs, it will be fine on Saturday, but again critical on Sunday.
Novak Djokovic struggles with conditions
The match between Thiem and Djokovic, the ninth duel between the two, had started very curiously. When the wind was violent, the world number one did not come into play at all. Again and again the 32-year-old Djokovic had to interrupt his throw-up movement and soon seemed completely annoyed. Thiem immediately took his first chance for a 2-1 break and went from zero to 3-1.
After 27 minutes it was 6-2 for Thiem, Djokovic even got the supervisor and asked if there were no wind rules. However, the conditions had not deteriorated compared to the first despite all the high-class semi-finals.
The ITF man couldn't change the weather, of course. But when the first heavy rain shower came in 3: 2 for the "Djoker", Djokovic was the first to be ready to leave the place in no time. However, the interruption lasted less than ten minutes. After the return the Serb got stronger, served better and thiem took the serve to 5: 3. Shortly thereafter and thanks to two aces, Djokovic had made the 1-1 in sets.
When a real match finally developed in the third set, although still strongly disturbed by the wind, Thiem just made a break to 3: 1. Then rain came again - and this time to stay. At least in the predictions. Before Thiem had left the facility, Djokovic was said to have steamed off towards the hotel 15 minutes before. The Serb, who apparently feels particularly uncomfortable in this weather, will be particularly glad that he didn't have to continue playing.
French Open: No roof on the squares
Once again, of course, there is the question of the more than overdue roof in Paris. Various information from the organizers speaks of a functioning retractable roof from 2021, others already from 2020 as originally planned. Actually, not even one roof is enough, as the other three major locations have already recognized: The Australian Open has three roofs, the US Open since 2018 and there will also be two in Wimbledon this year.
At Roland Garros, Suzanne Lenglen is talking about a possible roofing up to the year 2024, also because the boxing tournament of the Olympic Games 2024 may take place there.