Rain, rain, go away, come again some other day. The players wanted to go outside and play, but unfortunately, Zeus had other plans for Wednesday in Charleston. Heavy rains and thunderstorms caused a major delay on day 3 of the Credit One Charleston Open. Some of the matches that were originally scheduled for Wednesday night were even postponed to the next day.
As a result, the match between the defending champion Ons Jabeur and the recent winner of the 2024 Miami Open, Danielle Collins has also been delayed. Even the match between the 2016 Charleston Open champion Sloane Stephens and Canadian tennis star, Leylah Fernandez saw a similar fate. So when are these matches going to happen on Thursday?
Thursday Official Order of Play 🗓️
Lots of action and sunny skies tomorrow as we keep things going this week!#CharlestonOpen pic.twitter.com/I78U87w8Yk
— Credit One Charleston Open (@CharlestonOpen) April 3, 2024
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As things look like, Danielle Collins or Ons Jabeur, Leylah Fernandez or Sloane Stephens, will most likely now have to play twice in a single day because of yesterday’s rain delay. As per the Thursday Official Order of Play, Collins will take on Jabeur in the R32 match at 11:00 am (local time) at the Credit One Stadium. Fernandez and Sloane Stephens will face each other at the same round and same time, but in a different venue. They will face each other at the Althea Gibson Club Court in just a few hours.
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Now, according to the schedule that was published a few hours ago by the official Twitter account of the Credit One Charleston Open. Both the winners of the R32 match will face each other on the same day at the R16 clash. But the timing of this match shouldn’t be before 6:00 pm. Rain has played the role of a spoilsport on several occasions in the past as well. Do the authorities now need to think of a roofed stadium in Charleston? Well, fans now hope to get a permanent solution to this persistent problem. But what did the players say who got the chance to play after a long delay?
“It was a quite long day” -Victoria Azarenka’s reaction after her first match at the Charleston Open
Just a few hours ago, Victoria Azarenka got the chance to step onto the court after almost a 6-hour rain delay. However, the delay didn’t make any impact on her performance against Elisabetta Cocciaretto, as she defeated her comprehensively by a 6-1,6-2 margin in just 1 hour and 10 minutes. After the match, she said, “It was quite a long day. I was happy to have it delayed an hour or so, I was a bit sleepy. But so happy we were able to get out there.”
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However, Charleston’s Emma Navarro said, she waited out the rain delay at home. Navarro admitted she had gotten “a little too comfortable” in familiar surroundings. Fans are now keeping their fingers crossed. They hope that they won’t get any more wash out going further into the tournament.
READ MORE: Charleston Open 2024: Victoria Azarenka vs Taylor Townsend Preview; Head-to-Head, and Prediction