First round of Olympics tennis events pushed to Sunday amid rain

PARIS — Rain spoiled the opportunity for Canadian tennis stars Félix Auger-Aliassime and Leylah Fernandez to play in front of an Olympic crowd for the first time Saturday at the Paris Games.

But that shouldn’t disturb their preparation.

A light but constant rain over Roland-Garros forced the cancellation of almost all scheduled matches on uncovered courts.

After pushing back the start of the rounds, originally set for noon local time, organizers finally abandoned their fight against Mother Nature a little after 5:30 p.m. and postponed play until Sunday.

Fernandez of Laval, Que., competing in women’s singles as well as in doubles with Ottawa’s Gabriela Dabrowski, Bianca Andreescu of Mississauga, Ont., and Montreal’s Auger-Aliassime were all supposed to begin their Olympic journeys Saturday. But those plans were washed out.

“It’s definitely tough, especially for players who play first round, because they arrive really early to the courts, for example today it was about 8 a.m. and it’s a whole day of waiting,” said Heidi El Tabakh, the head of Canada’s women’s team.

“It’s a bit stressful, you don’t if you’re going to play, not play, what time, when to warm up, when to eat.”

Fernandez and Auger-Aliassime previously competed in front of empty stands at the Tokyo Games in 2021. For Andreescu, it’s her first Olympics.

“I feel like Canadian players, they get their energy from the crowd and then they feed off the crowd,” El Tabakh said. “I think they can’t wait to get our there and see Canadian flags in the stadiums. Unfortunately, Tokyo felt like another practice day.

“I think this one is going to feel extra special.”

Fernandez, seeded 16th in women’s singles, was set to face Czech Karolina Muchova, a 2023 French Open finalist. Andreescu was set to follow them on Court 9 in a duel with Clara Tauson of Denmark. The match between Auger-Aliassime and Marcos Giron of the United S also fell victim to the second wave of cancellations.

In doubles, the fifth-seeded duo of Fernandez and Dabrowski will eventually play against France’s Clara Burel and Varvara Gracheva in the first round.

Veteran Milos Raonic, of Thornhill, Ont., was meant to begin men’s singles play on Sunday and team up with Auger-Aliassime for the men’s doubles.

The four Canadian singles matches were rescheduled to Sunday along with Fernandez and Dabrowski’s doubles match. Auger-Aliassime and Raonic will start their men’s doubles tournament later this week. The same goes for mixed doubles, where Auger-Aliassime will play with Dabrowski.

“A day like today, maybe it’s in our favour that it’s cancelled,” El Tabakh said. “Players can go get some rest, regroup and be sharp tomorrow instead of waiting around all day. But players adapt, it’s a part of the sport.”

Just one open-air match scheduled for Saturday — women’s doubles battle between Americans Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula and Australians Ellen Perez and Daria Savill — went ahead after it was moved to the covered Suzanne-Lenglen Court.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 27, 2024.

Alexis Bélanger-Champagne, The Canadian Press