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Andy Roddick believes rain-affected matches can get stressful for the players. He was talking about to the 2023 Italian Open final between Elena Rybakina and Anhelina Kalinina, where rain ended up playing spoilsport.
Roddick thinks warming up multiple times due to the delayed start can get monotonous, which affects players' rhythm. The match had to be pushed back from its scheduled start time and finally wound up at a little past midnight.
Grand Slam winner Andy Roddick was sharing his thoughts with the Tennis Channel on the challenges faced by tennis players in rain-affected games.
“I don't know what the moving pieces are. I don’t know what the TV contract are. The counter to me would be if someone bought a ticket to the women’s final. How do you adjust if they have a ticket for the men’s final also tomorrow?” said Roddick.
“There are a lot of moving parts, all of them imperfect. But Monica’s right. Having to adjust with hydration, when to eat, when to warm up. There’s every chance these women have warmed up five times today already.
“So it gets a little monotonous. It gets a little stressful, imperfect. But listen, you still get the same number of points. You are still playing for a big big title, so you got to step up,” he added.
Roddick also raised concerns about how the Italian open organizers would handle the ticket-holders having tickets to both the women’s and men’s finals.
Players also have to factor in their hydration and meal schedule and when to head out to warm up. According to Roddick, there’s a good chance the players would have warmed up quite a few times while waiting to begin. This could be monotonous and stressful.
It may not be a perfect situation, but with points at stake and the Italian Open being a significant title, the players must step up and give it their best.
Elena Rybakina bests Anhelina Kalinina at rain-affected 2023 Italian Open final
When Anhelina Kalinina strode out on the court for the Italian Open final with a taped left thigh, it was clear something was amiss. The women’s final had a delayed start as rain backed up play on center court for most of the day.
Playing her first WTA 1000 final, Kalinina did get off to a strong start, breaking the Wimbledon champion's serve in the first game itself and holding her serve to get ahead 2-0.
But shortly, the tables turned, and Ryabinka forced Kalinina on the back foot and was forced to defend from the baseline.
The Kazakh broke back to equalize 3-3 and took the first set 6-4. Ryabinka was leading 1-0 in the second set when her Ukrainian opponent chose to retire 65 minutes into the game. Her left thigh injury was the culprit and ruined her chances in the match, forcing her to withdraw from the Italian Open in tears.
It has been a good year for Rybakina, who was the finalist at the Australian Open, winner at Indian Wells, and a finalist at the Miami Open. She will now move up to be World No. 4 on Monday. The summit clash was the tournament's third match in which Elena Rybakina benefitted from a walkover.
