ROLAND GARROS, FRANCE

Now all the players scheduled for today will have to play back to back matches in the next two days, that is provided rain does not continue to wreak havoc with the schedule.  This probably will have more impact on the men, not just mentally but perhaps more important, physically.  It will also impact those players still playing both in singles and doubles.

The silver lining in the cloud is that Venus and Serena Williams who had to play two matches yesterday, lost their second match in the day because of fatigue can and now get the extra day to rest and recharge their batteries.  If no further rain interruption, that will work in their favor despite having to play on back to back days.  The only players to complete their round of sixteen matches were Rogers and Muguruza.  They are sitting pretty, unless they get bumped off the schedule tomorrow to accommodate all the backed-up matches.

The bottom half of the men’s draw was not scheduled to play today and theoretically those players will not be impacted if they can play their matches tomorrow as scheduled.  The top half will have the biggest test; those men [Djokovic, Bautista Agut, Ferrer, Berdych, Granollers, Thiem, Gulbis and Goffin] will have to play best of five matches on two consecutive days. The best scenario is to win your match in straight sets and minimize your time on court.

Despite being physically fit, I cannot believe that this rain delay is not concerning for all the players who will have to play on consecutive days.  Weather remains one of the factors in the life of a tennis player that can have far-reaching consequences, and usually not good ones.