After disrupting the end of Tuesday’s round, forcing the cancellation of many matches, including the debut of Beatriz Haddad Maia from São Paulo, the rain continued on Wednesday and postponed the start of games on the roofless courts retractable. Scheduled to start at 9 pm (Brasília time), the round will now not start before 1:30 am.
Bad weather in Melbourne meant the organization took longer than usual to release Wednesday’s schedule, leaving some players unhappy. Briton Jamie Murray was one of those who fired, claiming that some players slept without knowing when they would start.
“Also, the weather sucks. Just start the matches later and give the players more time to rest and prepare. You’ve got lights,” said the British duo.
Belgian veteran Kirsten Flipkens was another to express concern. “It’s already 11:50pm. I won’t be one of them, but how can you let the players play at 11am if you don’t have the schedule at that time yet?” she wrote on her Twitter account on Tuesday.
At the moment, the weather forecast indicates that until 15:00 local time (1:00 am in Brasilia time) the chance of rain is above 20%, falling significantly after that. From 18h the probability is very small and it continues until the end of the day. The weather should remain good until next Monday, when rain will be a concern again.
