WTA Chennai Open: New year, same damp squib as Cyclone Murasu washes out day 1

The first edition of the tournament was held in 2022 in September, the week following the U.S. Open, amidst clear skies. But when it returned to India in November last year, the first two days of the main draw were completely washed out due to rain.  | Photo Credit: Nihit Sachdeva

Rains brought in by cyclone Murasu led to a complete washout on the opening day of the WTA 250 Chennai Open at the SDAT Stadium in Nungambakkam.

The intermittent drizzle, along with a brief downpour, forced the tournament organisers to eventually call the day off around 6:40 p.m. soon after they had issued a revised order of play which featured just five singles matches.

“Between 8:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. on Monday, the Nungambakkam area received 8.8mm of rainfall,” an India Meteorological Department (IMD) official told Sportstar.

Therefore, the action on Tuesday, featuring all 16 first-round matches, has been brought forward by four hours and will begin at 11 a.m. to get the tournament back on schedule.

However, according to IMD, thunderstorms and lightning are expected on Day 2 as well.

The first edition of the tournament was held in 2022 in September, the week following the U.S. Open, amidst clear skies. But when it returned to India in November last year, the first two days of the main draw were completely washed out due to rain. The same is likely to happen this time as well, vindicating WTA’s decision to relocate India’s only Tour-level event to the Philippines in 2027. Of course, the growing popularity of Filipino star Alexandra Eala is the bigger factor behind the move.

Indian wild cards to play back-to-back

As per Tuesday’s schedule, all three Indian wild cards - Vaishnavi Adkar, Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi and Sahaja Yamalapalli - will play one after the other on the Centre Court.

World No. 334 Vaishnavi, the top-ranked Indian, will be up against Jodie Burrage, the 27-year-old Brit who has entered the main draw via a Protected Ranking of 149 but has been ranked as high as 85th in the world.

After the 21-year-old Vaishnavi, Maaya will step on the court where the 17-year-old girl from Coimbatore, who recently clinched her maiden title at the senior level, will face Polish World No. 106 Katarzyna Kawa.

In the fifth and final match of the day on the Centre Court, World No. 369 Sahaja Yamalapalli will take on Swiss World No. 128 Simona Waltert.

French World No. 130 Elsa Jacquemot is the latest player to withdraw from the tournament. Her spot has been given to Russia’s Rada Zolotareva, who joins Japan’s Mei Yamaguchi and Slovakia’s Viktoria Morvayova in the main draw as the Lucky Losers.