Rio Olympics 2016: Weather gods test patience of tennis lovers as rains cause delay

Sport lovers in Rio are being denied of some exciting sporting action as rains continue to play spoilsport in the 2016 edition of Olympics in the Brazilian capital. Tennis enthusiasts who have gathered in the city were left heartbroken early morning to know that tennis matches will need to be rescheduled in the wake of rains.

The delay has been quite frustrating for fans who are being denied the joy of watching some of the best athletes they have come to watch from all corners.

After first-round exits in the men’s and women’s doubles respectively, Rohan Bopanna and Sania Mirza are due to team up in the mixed doubles as they take on Samantha Stosur and John Peers of Australia. Fourth-seeded Mirza and Bopanna are now the country’s last remaining hope at a tennis medal. Due to play at 1:30 am IST, their match will be pushed back by over two hours.

The wet conditions meant that the centre court would see tennis action of the third round only after 12.30 a.m. IST, for matches that were due to begin at 8p.m., while games in the outside courts will commence at noon.

Among the big names who will be seen in action on the day are Britain’s Andy Murray and Spanish Rafael Nadal.

While Nadal plays Giles Simon of France, Murray will go up against Fabio Fognini of Italy. Additionally, Nadal is supposed to play three matches, weather permitting, including in the men's doubles semifinals with Marc Lopez, and the first round of mixed doubles with Garbine Muguruza.

It is not the first time in this edition that the weather gods have intervened and disrupted sporting action. On Sunday, high winds forced officials to postpone the rowing events to Monday. Tennis matches were also delayed on Sunday due to wind. And if weather reports are to be believed, there is more frustration in store for both the athletes and the fans as showers are here to stay for today and drier conditions will return on Thursday. Beach volleyball preliminaries, slated to held today, are also expected to be affected by the weather.

Weather is expected to be at its best on Friday, however, when the track events get underway. Till then, both the fans and athletes have to wait for the skies to clear for sporting action to take centrestage.