Two top women lose, complain about the rain at French Open

PARIS-Yes, they actually managed to complete a match on this wettest of weeks at the French Open. Two, even. And both involved surprises: Two of the top half-dozen seeded women lost within minutes of each other, No. 2 Agnieszka Radwanska and No. 6 Simona Halep.









On tap for today during the Open: Frenchman Gasquet faces Andy Murray

PARIS-The wait had better be worth it for tennis fans when Richard Gasquet finally takes on Andy Murray in the French Open quarterfinals-weather allowing on Wednesday. Since they won their third-round matches on Sunday, it has rained almost non-stop at Roland Garros, washing out Monday and most of Tuesday. The second-seeded Murray munched on an energy bar as he watched No. 1 Novak Djokovic's rain-interupted fourth-round match against No. 14 Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain on Tuesday. The Murray vs. Gasquet match was supposed to follow the conclusion of Djokovic's match and then No. 1 Serena Williams vs. No. 18 Elina Svitolina. Gasquet should be patient by now, having never previously reached the last eight at the French Open since first playing here in 2002-just short of his 16th birthday. Murray and Gasquet are both 29, and Gasquet was the more talented early on, winning their first two meetings in 2006 and 2007-the year Gasquet reach the Wimbledon semifinals as a 21-year-old. He should really have won their next encounter, too, wasting a two-set lead in the fourth round at Wimbledon the following year. After that, Murray's trajectory went up-two Grand Slam titles, an Olympic gold medal and seven other Grand Slam finals-while Gasquet's form mostly stagnated, with rare highs being semifinals at the U.S. Open in 2013 and two years later at Wimbledon. Murray has won their last five meetings-including in the fourth round of the French Open in 2012-but Gasquet has taken confidence from an impressive win against No. 5 Kei Nishikori in the fourth round. -The Associated Press
After their fourth-round exits Tuesday, both Radwanska and Halep complained firmly about tournament organizers' decision to make them play through drizzles-or worse-that made courts slippery and clay-caked tennis balls heavy.

"I mean, it's not a (low-tier) tournament. It's a Grand Slam. How can you allow players to play in the rain?" said Radwanska, the 2012 Wimbledon runner-up.

"I don't think they really care what we think. I think they care about other things," Radwanska added, saying her racket-wielding right hand gave her problems because she had surgery on it years ago.

Halep sounded a similar tone, noting it was "impossible to play," and saying: "No one cares about the players, in my opinion. I don't care that I lost the match today, but I was close to (getting) injured."

Radwanska dropped 10 consecutive games while being beaten 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 by 102nd-ranked Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria. Shortly before that, Halep lost 7-6 (0), 6-3 to No. 21 Sam Stosur in a contest between two past finalists at Roland Garros.

Alas, of the 12 singles matches on Tuesday's schedule, those were the only two that finished. Four men's fourth-rounders-including No. 1 Novak Djokovic against No. 14 Roberto Bautista Agut-were suspended in progress. Four women's fourth-rounders-including two involving the Williams sisters-never started at all, nor did two men's quarterfinals.

Halep wondered aloud whether those in charge of the French Open insisted on going forward with matches in the rain because they "are scared" about completing the tournament on time. All play was washed out Monday, the first full day lost at the event in 16 years.

"Not their fault," she said. "But the decisions were not, I think, the best."

Radwanska vs. Pironkova originally began Sunday, and Radwanska was three games from victory at 3-0 in the second set when play was suspended. They didn't make it back on court until Tuesday, began more than an hour late because of more rain, played for about a half-hour, then were halted by a 2 1/2-hour delay.

There were stretches when action proceeded despite drops falling, and-perhaps not surprisingly, given that she won-Pironkova was OK with that.

"Well, it happened before, of course. We have played in all sorts of conditions. Usually if the court is not fit for play, like if it's slippery, they would cancel the match right away," said Pironkova, who reached her first French Open quarterfinal. "But today the court was still hanging in. It was OK. We could have played, and so we did."

The Stosur-Halep match was suspended Sunday during the first set. And 2011 U.S. Open champion Stosur-wearing a green long-sleeved shirt against the chill of temperatures in the 50s (about 15 degrees Celsius)-was better throughout Tuesday.

"It's not good out there," Stosur said, "but it was fine for us."

She is into the quarterfinals in Paris for the fourth time.

"It was really tough, obviously, with the start-stop and having a day off and everything," Stosur said. "Once you're out there and it's raining, it's not so nice, but that's the way it is."

Four of the top 11 players remain in the women's tournament: No. 1 Serena Williams, No. 4 Garbine Muguruza, No. 8 Timea Bacsinszky and No. 9 Venus Williams. Only Muguruza is already into the quarterfinals; the other three will wait until Wednesday to try to join her.

Djokovic split the first two sets with Bautista Agut as they went on and off court, able to get a total of only 2 hours of playing time.

Djokovic was leading 4-1 in the third when they were interrupted for good Tuesday, along with the other men's fourth-round matches: Tomas Berdych vs. David Ferrer, David Goffin vs. Ernests Gulbis, and Dominic Thiem vs. Marcel Granollers.

During one break, Djokovic, seeking to win a fourth consecutive major title and complete a career Grand Slam, wandered around Court Philippe Chatrier to check the weather, borrowing a green-and-orange Roland Garros umbrella from a fan.

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