The first day of the Queen's tennis tournament has been disrupted by severe weather, as heavy rain swept across London on Monday. Play was initially scheduled to start at 12:45pm but was delayed until later in the afternoon. Three opening first-round matches eventually began a couple of hours behind schedule, only to be halted after just one game when rain returned.
Matches Abruptly Stopped
Olympic champion Qinwen Zheng had contested only eight points against her opponent Jaqueline Cristian before the umpire called the players off the court. Karolina Pliskova was leading 1-0 against McCartney Kessler when play was suspended, while British wildcard Harriet Dart managed to play just one point before the stoppage.
BBC Broadcast Disrupted
The BBC began its broadcast of Queen's only when play was confirmed to be underway. However, minutes later, the network was forced to pull the live coverage. A re-run of the classic Wimbledon match between Venus Williams and Serena Williams was shown instead, before broadcasting switched to other programmes.
Tournament officials have announced that no play will resume until at least 5pm today, a decision met with groans from spectators inside the Andy Murray Arena. Groundsmen were seen putting down the WTA net as rain began to fall.
Upcoming Matches and Forecast
British star Katie Boulter is scheduled to face eighth seed Leylah Fernandez later today, while Emma Raducanu is due on court tomorrow. However, further rain is expected in west London over the next three days. Unlike Wimbledon, Queen's has no covered courts, making the tournament vulnerable to weather delays.
