Houston, we have a problem.
The U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship is off to a rough start because of rain, which is expected to continue through Friday. As of Thursday afternoon, one first-round match (Daniel Altmaier vs. Max Purcell) had not yet been completed. The second round, of course, is supposed to be completed by the end of Thursday so that the quarterfinals can take place on Friday. Only one second-round match (John Isner vs. Gijs Brouwer) has started.
In Marrakech, the Grand Prix Hassan II is on schedule–but not without some problems. Rain damaged Centre Court earlier in the week, so it wasn’t used at all on Wednesday. It was also expected to be out of action on Thursday, and that did prove to be the case at the start of the day. The match between Dan Evans and Alexei Popyrin got moved to Court 4, which resembles something you might see at your local club.
The maintenance crew managed to improve Centre Court conditions later in the day and the final two matches (Lorenzo Musetti vs. Hugo Gaston and Alexandre Muller vs. Francesco Passaro) were moved there.
As in Houston, though, more rain is expected in Marrakech again on Friday. It’s going to be a long, difficult week for tournament organizers in both locations.
move it to court 13
Its turning into a pretty weird time in Augusta National too…