There was more rain -- and more controversy -- at the French Open on Thursday.
Tomas Berdych complained the tournament was "one big circus," while his opponent Novak Djokovic narrowly avoided disqualification, and Serena Williams battled back to escape an embarrassing exit on another interrupted day's play in Paris.
Tomas Berdych complained the tournament was "one big circus," while his opponent Novak Djokovic narrowly avoided disqualification, and Serena Williams battled back to escape an embarrassing exit on another interrupted day's play in Paris.
May was officially the second wettest month in the city's history, trailing only July 2001, and June is bringing similar weather.
Many players have been wishing Roland Garros had a roof -- or at least a big tent, though that wasn't what Berdych was referring to during his straight-sets quarterfinal defeat against Djokovic.
The Czech expressed his frustration when the players were briefly forced off due to rain at 3-3, telling supervisor Wayne McKewen: "This is an absolute circus. One big circus."
He felt the conditions had been the same throughout the match, so wondered why they departed at that stage. Earlier this week, Simona Halep and Agnieszka Radwanska complained bitterly after being made to play in the rain.
Djokovic, meanwhile, admitted he was "lucky" to still be on the court and continuing his bid to win the only grand slam missing from his collection.
Bouncing his racket in frustration at 0-1 in the same set, it spun backwards near the court's backboard and the linesperson reacted quickly to move out of the way. If he hadn't, Djokovic would have faced disqualification.
Asked if he realized how close he came to striking the official, the Serb replied: "It's obvious what I tried to do. I don't understand your question. I threw a racket on the ground and it slipped and almost hit the line umpire. I was lucky there.
"I'm just not thinking about those kinds of situations," he later added.
"I am aware that I have been lucky, and I apologized to people that have been in this particular situation with me and that could have been hurt by my racket. But it was never the intention. It was just some unfortunate bounce, but fortunate ending of that scenario."
Defending champion Williams also overcame the dreadful spring weather and her spirited opponent Yulia Putintseva 5-7 6-4 6-1 to move within two matches of becoming the joint winningest player in grand slams in the Open Era.
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